1

PRINTING, PRINTS AND PROPAGANDA

This book is a study of visual propaganda, and of its role in the dissemination
of the evangelical movement during the first half-century of I he Reformation
in Germany. A good deal has been written about the importance of printed
propaganda for the spread of the Reformation, and the contribution of visual
propaganda to this process has often been recognised, but it has been the sub-
ject of no thorough or systematic investigation' This study attempts to plug
that gap, but it also seeks to go further, and to examine how the Reformation
may have impinged on the broadest masses of the people in sixteenth-century
Germany. This is the sense in which the term 'popular' is used in the title,
rather than the other meaning 'most acclaimed' or 'most sought after'. Its
argument is that through a study of visual propaganda we may gain a wider
understanding of how the Reformation appealed to common folk than by
concentrating attention more narrowly on printed propaganda alone.
Such a claim may seem surprising, for the importance of printing for the
rapid spread of Reformation ideas was recognised in the sixteenth century
and has become a commonplace of modern historiography. As Elizabeth
Eisenstein has pointed out, printing laid many of the foundations on which
the movement of religious reform was able to build, from vernacular bibles
and books of popular devotion, to clerical education and theological scholar-
ship. Moreover, from the very beginning of Luther's revolt against the Church,
the new religious ideas were made available to a reading public almost as soon
as they were written. An important part of this process was the conscious use
of printed propaganda addressed to a mass audience, to the entire German
people. Indeed, it was one of the great successes of such propaganda that it
presented the new belief as a popular movement with a mass base.'
There is a danger of being beguiled by the very skill of Reformation propa-
ganda into accepting its own claims at face value. The role played by printing
is undeniable, but over-concentration on the printed word may seriously
distort our understanding of how Reformation ideas spread among the popu-
lation at large. Printed propaganda was addressed to the entire German people,
but few of them were able to read it, for the Reformation emerged in a society
with limited literacy. It is not possible to measure literacy in early sixteenth-
century Germany with any accuracy, but it was certainly restricted both
geographically and socially. It was more concentrated in towns and in the
more culturally advanced south-west. The presence of schools is only a crude
indicator, but in Wurttemberg there were as many as eighty-nine schools by

I
4 Pri' Printing, prints and propaganda 5
ntmg, prints and propaganda

statues of the M d itself so enormously extended man's visual ability, but because it developed
inside.I4 a anna whose stomach could
Seeing be opened to reveal the Trinicy alongside, and in conjunction with~ mass pictorial reproduction. Printing
'sal . was an important made possible the exactly repeatable literary statement, but the print created
ways of 'see' \ he~lbnngende Schau) lS A , tn what has been called the
VIfic displa ' ( . . part of devotion . the exactly repeatable visual statement. It thus fulfilled the same communi·
desire to see~hg common to late-medie~al b l.L. Meyer has indicated three cation function for the illiterate and the semi-literate that printing fulfilled
rough my t' e tef One w • . for those able to read in the narrow sense. Indeed, the most effective early
gave certainty of sal . s teal piety some kind ; . . as mysttcal seeing', a
even ecstasy th vatJon. Although thi f VISion or appearance which forms of printed popular literature were predominantly visual - blockbooks,
• e demed rc s was a fa f the Bilderbogen or primitive comic strip and the broadsheet." These all
mysteries' se . e ,ect was noneth 1 rm o contemplation m
Here one wishede~:g hwith the bodily eye r:t~:sr visual. A second was a 'seeing
0f relied on the use of the woodcut, in the technology of the time the most
durable means of mass pictorial reproduction. Although the woodcut could
reality. This led t ave made visible a fo than through an inner vision.
consecration o fa the desire to see th rmh of sacred action beyond earthly reach great heights in the hands of masters like DUrer or Cranach, part of its
a •purely bodil • r a terw
. ar ds placed on VI. e . ost d Isp · 1ayed at the moment of appeal was its simplicity of line, and so the ease with which it could be read.
Th'lS was a superstt'ti'
Y seemg' whi ch involved ew a sem am 1 onstrance. A third kind was Like homemade gin, it was cheap, crude and effective.
and power of th . ous. se emg · close to m . nsua co nnectwn · with the object. Indeed, we can say with reasonable certainty that well before the inven-
tion of printing, the first item of mass circulation was the popular woodcut,
devotion to the elVJehwmg itself.'" This kagsdc, entailing a belief in the efficacy
Christ. Contemplat· cot of V eronica, a com m of see·mg was involved in popular dating from the end of the fourteenth century. In its earliest form it seems to
have been used as a commemorative illustration of a pilgrimage, a memento
one .
. recetved both . .10n of th'18 Image 'mad memoratt on ° f the true features of
·
samts evok sptntual heali e present the hal ' . of the religious experience which could be taken home and used to recall it.
thou ed superstitious ng and salvation " . . y ' and by lookU1g From here it passed into use as an item of popular devotion. Pinned to the
ght to make th reverence: the d . . . Surularly, pictures of the
exam pi . em so h eptcllon of th h wall, showing a depiction of the suffering Christ or of some popular saint,
Chris e, With the custom fme ow present•• Th. e oly personage was such as St Christopher, it could serve for private meditation and devotion. As
The t, mto Wine and th o dtppmg the holy Ia IS veered into magic, for
VIsual en pier · · nee used t · we have already seen, it could also acquire the sacral features of the holy
gave th representation b cmg illustrations of, h o pterce the side of personage, and some popular woodcuts were used as talismans and carried in
e possessor access t ecame holy by conta t t. e heart of Christ with it. 23
c for otis s1.t c Wtth th h a little bag hung around the neck like a magic charm. Given its cheapness
its Su
im h ms of devotion pernatural pow 19 e oly lance, and so and ease of production, the popular woodcut has far more claims to being the
portance was presupposed . er.
channel such S fully realis d a highly de vel d . first item of mass communication than the elite form of the printed book.
ecclest'ast· chaufromm,·gk . e at the time Th ope VlSUal sense, and We have no reliable estimates of the numbers in which the popular wood-
emphasis tCald. ~VO!Jon by di euo•· .r VIsual piety' ·in eCh urc h attempted to cut circulated, but we can gauge the the possibilities from sales of that other
In many wbas latd both on th.'plays of relics. At tlo more controlled areas of
. ulls of . VIsit and p aces of il . 'al item of mass production and consumption of the age, the pilgrimage token. A
Pictures w Indulgence th on the viewi P gnmage speer best-selling book would probably find around 20,000 readers in all its editions
Nor surpnsere often accorded e visio was part,· nlg of specific holy objects.
tngly thi a stat cu arly st in the early sixteenth century, but there were claims that as many pilgrimage
and strong , s provoked us as great as th ressed, and certain tokens were sold in a single day. This figure may be suspect as the exagger-
both the dcolndernnation of • ala good deal of d bat of relics themselves."' ation of a chronicler but we have reliable evidence that in Regensburg in
· tsp ay f s VIfi ct· e ate o h
stde advocat o the host a d c !Splay'. Nt'c I n t e role of images
. es of · n the · o aus of c l5I 9-20 some 10,81,3 lead tokens and 1799 silver tokens were sold." Given
catton. In fifteen •mages stressed th VIe.wing of picture usa wrote against an equal demand for the cheap and popular woodcut, there is no reason why
ctsms of the Lo th-century Eng] etr rmportan s, while on the other an equally high number should not have been in circulation. It has been
Pa . llards and i ce as a m .
Uper JUstified h . as the 'book mages were d f eans of commuru- claimed that the popular broadsheet appeared in editions of only 350, but in
on Christ's inca t etr use on thre s of the common e ended against the criti-
I 522 the authorities in Leipzig seized I 500 copies of a broadsheet attacking
and that they mation, life and p e grounds: that th man'. The tract Dives and
Jerome Emser. Moreover the woodcut block was capable of yielding perhaps
Could read in bserved as a bookas:IOn;thattheytu ey brought men to think
Th oaks cow •or the rned the h three or four thousand copies before it began to deteriorate, and woodcut
f e developm d be react b unlearned eart to devotion;
eatures of popul:;t of Printing ga:. the layman i~ ;othat what the clergy
culture. Not J·ust an enormous . magery and painting.2I
illustrations were often passed from printer to printer. The same illustrations
were used by various printers for different editions of the Bible in the 1520s
' as Mc Luhan cJa.tmpetu s t o these visual and I 530s. 25 Given that the printed book usually had average editions of
uns, because printing by
6 Pnnting, prints and propaganda 7
Printing, prints and propaganda

around a thousand copies, the popular woodcut was more than its equal as a lished with the printed text as a woodcut broadsheet, but the pamphlet con-
means of mass communication. tains thirty-two pages of pure, unrelieved print. 31 Tills points unequivocably
As a mode of mass communication the popular woodcut thus had unrivalied to the long-term triumph of printing over the print as a major form of mass
potential, yet we rarely find it used in its 'pure' form. Inevitably, it became communication, a fact of whlch there could be no doubt by the middle of
'hybridised' with print to produce the woodcut broadsheet, overcoming the sixteenth century. Not that there was necessarily any great leap forward
thereby one of its major drawbacks as a means of propaganda. Pictorial in literacy, and so less need to provide information to the unlearned by visual
representation can be a crude and effective means of communication, but it means. It may simply indicate that publishers now had a suffic>ently large
can never escape the danger of ambiguity. The addition of the printed word market among a reading public to dispense with the task of combining wood·
enabled 1t to spell out its message unambiguously. It thus served as a meeting cuts with movable type. No doubt readers were also more accustomed to
pomt between the illiterate, the semi-literate and the literate. For those absorbing information through print alone. Broadsheets continued to be pro-
u_nable_ to read, the message of a popular broadsheet could be read from the duced for popular dissemination, and book illustration continued to play a
VIsual Images alone. More effectively, its printed text could be read out by part in providing technical information and as entertainment. T!tle Illus-
someone who could re d · . . . .
a , creatmg a Situatton of oral mterchange whdch was trations, then as now, enticed potential readers by suggesting the attractiveness
probably the most powerful means of spreading the Reformation. 26 of the printed contents. However, the second half of the sixteenth century
The Importance of oral transmission for the dissemination of the evangeli- saw a noticeable deterioration in technique, which robbed the woodcut of
cal message was fully reali d b h .
se Y t e wnters of Reformation propaganda much of its simplicity of line and so of its effectiveness. It was gradual~;'
works. A collection of t f
. . . ex racts rom popular prophecies published in 1522 replaced by the engraving as the chief form of p1ctonal representatwn.
contams an Injunct· t .
. . Ion o pass the pamphlet on to another reader and to d!s- Meanwhile, it was printing which gained dominance as the chief means of
cuss It With them 21 An 0 th '
WlS. h t k · er pamphlet expresses the opinion that if one non-oral communication.
es o now the nat f h . .
ure o t e Antichnst one should go to a brother who At the beginning of the Reformation this development was yet in the
can rea d who uld th '
. . t' ' co en read out the Epistles of St Paul 28 That such future and we must resist the temptation to read history backwards m terms
lflJUnc IOns were put into t' .
in 152 4 h prac Ice can be seen from an incident in Nuremberg of the '.meV!table
. .
tnumph . d wor d . At the be•inning
of the pnnte ,. of the Refor-
of Karlstad!'
• w en a clerk named E
k
w·
rasmus ISperger was arrested for reading one . f h h' f d through which the Refor-
mation printing was only one o t e c te mo es
s war s aloud on th k 20
. ' . f · h t ee how it impinged on the
read the po ul b e mar etplace. Even for those who could mahan message was transmitted. I we WIS o s
• P ar roadsheet d
taining We h rna e propaganda more persuasive and enter- broadest levels of the population, we must look at the whole spectrum of
. ave an excellent f
pamphlet A v· 1 examp1e o the process described in a 1524 communication of the time. Here we are 1ace c d WI'th ' pur e' modes - pnnt '
' Ia ogue between Ch . .
the Cornerstone. lO a nstzan and a Jew ... concerning Christ oral forms and pictorial forms - an d wtt · h h Ybn·ds of these · We shall refer
A Jew and an evangelical Ch . . . frequently to the printed propaganda t hrou gh ou t th.18 study • but it , cannot be
Jew produces a woodcut he ha nstlan fall mto co_nversation in an inn, and the taken as normative for propagandiSt. appeals t 0 the 'common man . It wouldf
the woodcut to expla· t th s picked up on hds travels. The Christian uses
m o e Jew th · · he immensely valuable to have access to oral rna des of propaganda, . and a.
the woodcut depicts the Wh e mam pomts of evangelical belief as h
course we can see traces of some af t ese m pn •· ·nt as verbal artlfacts
. - 33
m
to them with interest m. . en they part, the inn servant, who has listened printed sermons ballads songs, proverbs, saymgs, r· eported conversatwns.
. . .
· • pronuses to set th · . ' ' · · · ·1 cornmumcat10n m
With the Woodcut Th sh err conversallon down in print along It would also be useful to trace the role of pnntmg mora Th. k' d, f
. e case ows the id al b ,
rneans of communication . . e alance of oral, visual and printed reading aloud to an audience or m · · o f Printed works · IS f m·r .0
. dtscusston
.
discussion as lt lS found du . h R
is fictitious . nng t e eformation. Whether the study would have its own methodological problems, not least that 0 81 tmg
or not 1s of !'ttl
author of the 1524 p hl . I e re1evance; more importantly the ·
how far the evidence has been affected by bemg recor
ded in wntmg or m
d t d
amp et WIShed to sh ha '
sprea d effectively by th k ow t t Reformation ideas were . W h·ll attempt to un ers an
pnnt. This is not a task we can pursue here. e s a . . df
0b . . e spa en word ad d b
Ylaus mtention of the hi I e Y the use of pictures. The . and its hybndiSe arms,
. I. pamp et was t 0 popular propaganda through visual representa t wn d
same m ike circumstances encourage the reader to do the . . the artifacts of ora1 rna es.
which link images to the printed word, or Images to h d ut
Whether it occurred b .d . d . this sense are t e woo c
the blish Y eslgn or oversight th The major sources for popular propagan a m d illustrated
pu ed pamphlet alth gh . ' e woodcut was omitted from broadsheet, with or without text, book illustrations, titlepages_ an d b .,
de 'b d ' au a pictu ·
sen e (ill. 170, p. 212) ld all re eXIsts which corresponds to that .d ce usually Ignore y ws-
. e y, one Would h books. These comprise a major category of eV1 en Wh h
ave expected to find it pub- . . . rioted sources. ere sue
tonans in their preoccupations wtth wntten or P
 Printing, prints and propaganda 9
8 Printing, prints and propaganda
can only be achieved by close study of the techniques and process of the
visual
works evidence
of historyhas been
1 u se d ' '"t h as most frequently been merely to illustrate propaganda.
rate of such evid' rare_ y Wlth any analym of its visual content. 34 The survival The task of Reformation propaganda was primarily to spread and win
popularity A ·ence g1 lSh certaillly low ' f or 1·t h as o f ten b een a victim of its own allegiance to the evangelical message. This posed several problems. The
· Sill e-s eet broadsh t b gh message had to be transmitted in clear and easily assimilable form; there was
carded, or becomes so tattered in ee . ou t for a few pence is soon dis·
becomes mere litter S h . passmg from hand to hand that it quickly the need to break down old patterns of thought and values; and one had to
o 1cial archives and · uc !!ems found theu way o n1Y acci d entally into create powerful symbols of attachmeot to the new movement. Finally, these
ffi • weref preserved only thr ou gh t h e man!a . for curiosities of had to be integrated into an ordered structure of values and allegiances, into a
some private collecto h .
Pi . r, or or t err artistic value 3s new 'symbolic universe' .45 A basic technique of propaganda is pretended dis-
out atoneenng
the b work
· . to make popuIar broadsheets . better known was carried course. Although it can have little or no genuine dialogue with its audience, it
egmnmg
published three useful of the nineteenth century by H.A. von Derschau who often works on the assumption that it does. In part, this is because it assumes
o Ym . the 1920 h vo1umes of woodcut s ill · th eu
· ong>nal
.. . 36 It' was
SIZe. that there is an audience 'out there' on which it is having an effect, and
nl s, owever
co ection of extant
II
s t ' that
h Max Ge" b erg b egan to publish an extensive because it must anticipate the response of that audience in order to achieve
IX eent -century G
P ed afresh from · . al bl erman b roadsheets, some of them its maximum effect. One method of creating this 'dialogue' is to contact its
ull. b 0 ngm ocks which h d su!Vlved
.
37
elS erg carried "'- k a the passage of time. audience through images and symbols familiar to both, and then to transform
G . ""'which
wor d"dup to I 550 'an d b egan work on a parallel edition of
book illustrations these on the propagandist's terms. By a process of amplification and reinforce·
broadsheet collecti l not progress beyond the first few issues 38 The ment, a gradual shift from one 'symbolic universe' to another is brought
on was Issued in lo I f f . . about. 46 This process is set out in its ideal form in those pamphlets depicting
coII ector and unman bl ose- ea ohos, clearly aimed at the art
be en ed"1ted and rearranged
agea e for in general st u d Y purposes. 39 Only recently has it a dialogue about Reformation ideas. Typical of the genre is one 47in which a
then continued the ed· . more accesSible form by W L Strauss who son wins his father to Lutheran belief through reasoned discussion.
d ll!on up to the d f . . ' We cannot take such works as in any way representative of real discussions
secon collection Strauss include en . o the sixteenth century. In this
corrected some of his d many !terns overlooked by Geisberg and about religion, but they do provide a foothold for further analysis. We can
ed·r "'·"' In 1976 theerrors
110
of fifty of its more inte
exhaust th e nch
:t.
Cast!'

. resources rofs m
although
M some errors also crept into the Strauss
useum at Gotha also issued a facsimile edition
mgt Items
'al ·•t H ow ever, these editions do not
say with some certainty what kind of people the propaganda is aimed at, and
so the 'symbolic universe' it seeks to transform. For Reformation propaganda
this was the broadest mass of the German people, the 'common man', typified
ganda. This study is based a en savailable for the study of visual propa· sometimes by the peasant, sometimes by the artisan, sometimes by the
roadsheets
bext . ' as weU as on published
on work d. °
m .several f t h e major collections of
42
ordinary citizen. These were all defined by virtue of being 'ordinary folk', so
that the common 'symbolic universe" assumed by the propagandist was that
. . P et collections from 1ttons · T th ese must be added the
hl
enstve pam e 0
in th 48
e Bnt!Sh Ubrary.•' the Reformation period, especially that of sixteenth-century German popular culture and belief Our task will be to
study the kind of raw material chosen from this area and how it was trans·
There are two other .
here.
Let u How are questions
. we to approach it a about visua1 propaganda to be considered formed.
to infls examme these ln · turn In s propaganda ' an d h ow as visual evidence? How are we to assess the effectiveness of the propaganda? It is an unfor·
to what uence peopl e s opinions· andgeneral
, act· ' propa gan da lS
. a deliberate attempt lunate difficulty of the study of sixteenth-century propaganda that we can
peop1e beli tons but b "t If· glean little real quantitative information about its success. We must resist the
believe Th" . eved, rather to wh t t'h Y t se tt provides access not
ganda ·whi lSaXJo
h . m "' · often overlookeda . ep h ropagandist would have them temptation to measure its effects in terms of numbers of editions of propa·
' c !Sana] d !nt est d f ganda works. As has been said of the measurement of literacy, a new form of
views of its audie ys.:;, as though it provided u y o Reformation propa·
well it was d nee. Yet from the duect mformation about the publication, or an increase in the volume of production, may be poor indi·
49
that a prop;n~stood, nor how deep p::~~nda al_one we cannot tell how cators of an overall ability to read or write. Similarly, the number of
of his audien lSI cannot aim his messa uence It l!as exerted. It is true editions of a particular propaganda work maY tell us about its popularity
. . ce, and at b ge too wide of th · relative to other printed works, but little about its overall impact on the
aruuettes. Most est he may h e maJOr concerns
'common opin· pr?paganda, therefore will ope to exploit their fears and broadest range of the population. We may certainly see its effects m broad
wha t lS . genuinely
ton of its a ge. The proble ' probably
f refl ect m
· some way the cultural traces, such as the acceptance of certain words or pluases mto com·
common PiniOn. . and m
ha o . any a na1YS!S. lS
. to discern man usage. By this test, for example, we can point to the undoubted fa1lure
0
w t1spro pagand!St . fiction. This
 10 Printing, prints and propaganda Printing, prints and propaganda 11

of Thomas Mumer's anti-Luth could be a 'language' of heraldry, of colours or of attributes of the saints. In
left few cult al t eran propaganda. For all its wit and skill it has
ur races, and not one wo d k f ' ' such cases, the 'speech' would be the actual use made of these possibilities in
the German linguistic heritage.'o r or war o Murner s has passed into any given context. Signs may thus be described in two ways, in terms of
The only reliable test is to stud h - actual or of potential relationships. Semiologists describe the former as a
a task which falls well b Y t e Impact of propaganda on behaviour, syntagma, the latter as a paradigm. In any combination of signs, all those
attempt to assess how c tehyond the scope of this book. However, we can present in it go to make up the syntagma, whereas the paradigm consists of
,ar e propagand h b . .
the various images and b a as een successful m transfornung the range of potential images which might have been chosen."
.
umverse' Thi · sym o1 s from which it k . .
see s to construct Its 'symbolic
. s Is a means of testing th t We can illustrate this through the example of a depiction of StGeorge and
to see what new f. e s ructural effectiveness of propaganda, the dragon by Hans Burgkmair (ill. 1). St George is represented on horseback
rameworks of values 't h
conform to its stated . t . 1 as created, and how well these inside a courtyard or courtly building. His armour and that of his horse have
thr m enttons This will b .
oughout this study, and to whi~h e a quesllon we shall pursue the elaborate decoration of the court pageant. He holds a broken lance, the
chapter. we shall return m more detail in the final other half of which has pierced the dragon lying dead under the horse's
How are we to analyse our material . . hooves. A princess holding a lamb on a lead kneels before him, and a Latin
to approach it in term f h . as VIsual eVIdence? It would be possible inscription identifies him as St George, the Christian knight. This composition
on! Y marginal attentions thr
o t e artiSts and p ubl'ISh ers, b ut these will receive
b ecause so many of th b oughout the f 0 11 owmg · d.tscusswn. . constitutes a syntagma with a definite number of specific signs. In this case
In part this is the paradigm is constituted by the many different ways in which St George
. e roadsheets are '
approximately. There are anonymous and can be dated only might have been depicted. 56 Iconography uses somewhat different termin·
the roe 1
I of the artist th a so many thorny an d unresolved questions about
t d , e woodcutter ology to refer to much the same phenomena. Paradigms are similar to what
.
Pnn e text in the overall d . ' th e pu bl.IS h er and the author of any E.H. Gombrich has called 'schemata'. These are conceptual models or for-
rIOns requues
. a separate stud
pro uctwn ·" T 0 d eaI adequately with such ques-
mulae on which an artist may draw in depicting particular themes. Gombrich
Zschelletzschky on the b th y, or even a series of studies such as that by
. d'f ro t ers Behe man d G eorg Pencz.52 Our , sees the artist as gradually adapting or 'correcting' his schema until it fits the
Is I ferent, tn analyse the purpose here
i s ructure of · al · particular subject in hand. Schema and correction thus correspond to paradigm
mages and symbols to see h . VIsu propaganda in and through its
and syntagma. 57 In the following chapters we shall be concerned particularly
teenth century. To this end w~:h•tll appealed to popular mentalities in the six·
Iconography and of semiology a use some of the concepts and methods of
lconograph · · r:rvvs G[OR.c;rv;
and leads y IS concerned with the descri t. . . CHRll ~ tJ\>;:l;>..Y,Y.·

. to the more specific st d . P wn and classtficallon of images, ~.'~LlTI.':\1 P!I.:J

rH,:\.'J:G!I.•·~
•

o f •mages in all u Y of tconology th d

study of . egory and symbolism. 83 . • e stu y of the function
vis al Signs, whatever their nat Senuology IS concerned with the
u conventi ure - whether ·
two b . I ons such as traffic sign It tmages, words, gestures or
exam astc1 e ements • th e signifier and s.th regards . . the Sign . as constituted by
the co P e, a red
d light can be broken do e Signified
. . mong Ira f fie Signs,
A . for
discu · mman 'Haiti' ( · .
. · Sigmfied). Or 1 wn mto the col d ( · .
our re stgntfier) and
SSlon, a tnpl r . o use an exa 1 f .
system of . e tara (Signifier) sigru·fi h mp e rom the penod under
Signs denoti Ch tes t e pope ( . fi d
form the si w . ng urch offices. Both . . srgnr Ie ) among the
Uke structgnal, . htch thus refers to a rel t. Signifier and Signified together
ur ISm w·th a wnshtp b t
cerned with th 1a' 1 which it has clo k' _e ween the two elements.
e tent 81· 'fi se mship sem·101 ·
Systems of . &nltcance embod· d . ' ogy 1s thus con·
knowledge of thSigns can be described a ted m structural relationships ...
· e code e bl s co es with th ·
Signs to deciphe th na es the reader of ' e Implication that
·In terms of 'ianr e message
, th ey transmit s· any numbe r or combination of
ary for comm guage and 'speech'. l.angu. tgn systems can also be described
umcatiOn ' speech the actual age Is the set 0 f conventions necess-
practice of language. Thus, there Hans Burgkmair, St George, BM

-.. _,n'Jrl___
 12 Printing, prints and propaganda Printing, prints and propaganda 13

with what kind of paradi h shall examine two large and loosely defined codes of major importance for
propaganda and h th gms or sc emata were drawn upon by Reformation
' ow ese were actually putt 0 ,. , . visual propaganda, popular culture and popular belief, and how they were
are interested both in the 'Ian , . use m syntagma . That 1s, we adapted to transmit the Reformation message. A further chapter will discuss
Analytically we shall be e guage of VISual propaganda and in its 'speech'.
the Reformation's attempt to create signs and codes which imparted its
broken down ,·nto "t xannnmg each example as a 'text' which can be
1 s component sign d · positive theological message. In the final chapter, after a brief glance at
overloading the Jingu· t. s an Sign systems. However, to avoid
" Ic metaphor and laps . Catholic counter-propaganda, we shall attempt to draw some conclusions
technical terms will be li . d mg mto jargon, the use of such
for the potential use ;rule . Schema or paradigm will be used throughout from the study.
The argument of this chapter can be summed up under three headings.
position or assembly fo . Signs,_ while more descriptive terms such as com·
0 signs will be used a] · th h First, Reformation propaganda is useful to our historical understanding of the
to the actual use made f h • ong WI t e term 'text', to refer
0 sue models the sy 1 Reformation only when we study its processes and methods. Second, that we
Reflection on the example of Bu , . , n agma. should look at genuinely popular propaganda to understand how Reformation
any visual text may emb d rgkmarr s St George also makes clear that
ideas were spread. Third, it will be useful to employ some methods and con·
different 'languages' It do y a ~umber of sign systems, involving a number of
of the saints and ~ th raws, or example, on the sign system of attributes cepts from iconography and semiology. However, this study is intended to be
0
referred to a~ 'codes' al~~ystghem of dress fashions. These sign systems will be
primarily a contribution to the social and cultural history of the Reformation.
' ou some semiolo ·t h Its overall aim is to discover in visual evidence some traces of popular men-
conceptual precision of the t . gJS s ave reservations about the
talities which have left too little trace in printed or written records.
poster, points out that an . dermd. Yveline Baticle, writing about the film
· m lVI ual imag b. .
mvo1ve several different codes S e or com matwn of images could
code of transmission: relat~d ot:et~:"mples are: ..
for example wheth . physical compoSitiOn of the image -
' er a pamting ' a woo d cut, an engraving, a book
ill ustration.
morphological code: graphi ..
light and dark, of asse"ro~~mpoS!llon of the image: use of forms, of
made in Reformation es of lines. For example, important use is
d"!VISion
· · into antitheses propaganda
( h of Jigh t and dark, and of spatial
linguistic code· Ia see c apter 3).
. . nguage or the use of I
pejoratives, 'low' langua e anguage - Latin, German, slang,
gestural code: gest . g ·
In this ures, attttudes signif ·
u study we are particularly inte Ylll_g moods. states, roles_ss
sed to transmit the Reformatio rested m the kinds of codes which were
created for
. thi s purpose. n message ' and m · h ow they were adapted or
In this way we shall
and pro ' apply a single meth d
lura! r t~ganda, for in both cases we shali ob to analyse both visual evidence
e a IOnships. On this bas • e investigating underlying struc·
discuss one s f 18
, we shali p d
Luther in ear~n o very great importance f:~cee as follov.:s. First, we shall
system of . y evangelical propaganda Th the Reformation, the image of
ment H Signs was associated with th . e next chapter will examine what
· ere we shali e opponents 0 f h
between the pay particular attent· t e new religious move·
component rt ton to the st a! . .
conveyed it pa s of individual ructur relahonshtp
the 'mec~i~;ss;ge or messages. Taken to w~odcuts, looking at how a 'text'
analysis which _a Reformation visual pro ge er, these two chapters explore
employed subselS taken for granted in lat~agahanda, and provide a method of
quently With such . r c pters, even tho gh "t . t
ngour. In the fol . u 1 ts no
lowtng three chapters, we

..,
____
:,.._
 Images of Luther 1519-25 15

ever it may have had a deliberate propagandist purpose, perhaps intended as a

2 reply to the rum our that luther's likeness had been burned publicly in Rome'
If Luther was but a mortal being whose life might easily be snuffed out, his
spirit would nonetheless live on. This shows excellently the signifying power
IMAGES OF LUTHER 1519-25
of such a simple composition, where the purpose of the whole is far more
than the sum of the individual parts. It is an iconic sign, that is, it presents the
likeness of Luther; it is an indicative sign, indicating that he is a monk;
In any discussion of the Reforrn t' h fmally, it is also a symbol of his immortality, thus establishing his ideological
that of Luther The fi a wn, t e fust name mentioned is invariably
· liS 1 mass aware h significance. 7
some great religious upheaval ness at 1 e beginning of the 1520s that Similar humanist sentiments appear with two other portraits. One is a
therefore, most important t waks under way was linked to his person. It is, better-known Cranach engraving dated 1521, showing Luther in a cowl and
d unng· these years We 0 as how Luthe
r was d eptcted · or represented doctor's beret (ill. 4). The other, also from 1521, shows him as a monk leaf-
· can trace num bl.
Ih e early 1520s 1 All · f erous pu tshed Luther portraits from ing in a book, framed in a niche (ill. 5). Both carry the same connotations as
1 th . owmg or variations d d'
ess an twenty-six differe . an mo Ifications, there were no illustration 3, but extend the denotation by identifying him as a doctor and
t ra rIons, that is, depictionsn1coverswns t . . ·
Luth al
er so appears in nineteen illus- by linking him with the Bible. With slight variations, these are three signs
action which includes th fin ammg a narrative element or some form of whlch recur in all depictions of Luther: as monk, as doctor, as man of the
d . 0 er tgures besid L
ecorattve borders of several t'tl es uther. He features as well in Bible. So powerful are these signs that they identify Luther even when any
to be more than merely 'deco' tepa.ges, although the overall effect is intended likeness is lacking. Signifier and signified are so fused that any resemblance is
ris Chri ra tve . for e I
en st in another part of th b. d ~amp e, where Luther points to the unnecessary. The connection can be as oblique as in illustrations 6 -7; indeed,
analyse th e se!D!ological
. · e or er · The se d eptctmns
· · can be used to as can be seen in some of the examples discussed below, the iconic link was
early years of the Reformati· Importance of Lu th er •s unage · during the decisive
W sh on. weak as often as it was strong.
e all deal first ·th
Luther dales from 15!9 WI (illthe )portraits · The ear]'test known representation of
2 1
~;· which Luther had ~ri~n:Uapp;ars on the titlepage of a published ser-
!fin g,muott nnurbigtt uu l!.ripfg~
at;, and was probably producedy elivered when attending the Leipzig
utfm g,rltlofatn lag pmi ofi pau
~ ('" tl'llui• ']u tl>utd) ~en nHr.;J~tollln-OoctP•cnt

a hi ·ld Luther 18
event . set in a lando wea .as a hresult 0 f Widespread · rt'l&rdnil L.4UiJIII}irwrJU \lJirrmSursf' mUI
interest in the 1111(~1111! lf}IJd:ltT•"'d'd 1f{a V"' uon
s e containin h' h . ' nng t e beret and f ·h CQ1idl)tn fnr~~Y o~bp:r!lligfT11•!!muff,n
is ide tifi g IS eraldtc rose It ha 1. gown o a doctor, wit frtnJIIII!ICr qt11 bn CtfpllladOn ~
n ted on] b · s tttle claim t b · '-"rlfo•e.,....,
'Doctor Mar . Y Y the inscription in m· . o e a hkeness, and he
gown and thtm Luther, Augustinian of Wlrror Image around the edge as
whil.' the De~ gesture of the left hand show ~enberg'. The doctor's cap and
the ffil·rr . ate IS also mentioned t'n th to be the diSputant at Leipzig,
OHrnage · . e sermo • t' 1
medal comme mscnption suggest that it n s It e. The Iondo form and
The se moratmg the Debate • could have been copied from a
cond-oldest kn .
by one of Luther's own portrait is less ambi . .
him as an Au . close fnends, the Saxo . guous m mtent, an engraving
Latin epigram gu:t~ntan monk With a Jar e ~:amter Lucas Cranach, showing
portrays the :a::' Luther With a pur:ly h~::;re: lookmg right (ill. 3).' A WI<
~·AT wnvs· aJU' .o.t:AJ. occu:wos
Here we have a sim features: Luther himself th arust sentiment: 'Lucas' pen
.",M·D;j(X·
The tonsure and pile combmation of a VI's al e_ eternal Image of his spirit.'
cow sho th u Stgn and r· -:i1t-
him as Luther and ]a· ws at he is a monk h a mguistic message.
Both the choice of c Ims to present an exact d' t e Latm epigram identifies
of a Latin inscriptioan engraving, rather than ~ptction, the 'mortal features'. 2 Title page of Luther, Ein Sermon geprediget tzu Leiptzgk
n suggests that it was ,;_ de more popular woodcut and (W. Stockel, Leipzig 1519), GNM
~ue at
14 a ]'muted
· audience. How-' 3 Lucas Cranach the Elder, Luther as Monk (1 520)
 16 Images of Luther 1519-25 Images of Luther 1519-25 17

The basic forms of the Luther . two-thirds of all Luther portraits or illustrations. 9 Luther in his doctor's cap
examples H · h . portrall are fully established with the early
· e lS s own 111 a tondo f d · . appears only nine times in the portraits, hut this image recurs more fre-
ing against a free back ound ' rame m or before a mche, or else stand-
length sometimes tu gr d t . Hhe may be shown bust or half-length, later full- quently in the illustrations to be discussed later. Four of these portraits were
10
' rne a t e left o th 'gh - . . engravings, four were book illustrations, one was a single·sheet woodcut.
the viewer The tond f d r e n t, sometlmes duectly facmg
- o oun camp r 1 r TiLis code of recognition points to an important feature of Luther's early
book illustrations and t . gl ara lYe y lttle use, appearing only in two
monk was used twenty wot_sm e sheets. The free-standing portrait of the image. Cranach's portraits, with their humanist tributes to Luther's immor-
-nme 1mes ill th-rt 1 - - tality, did not set the tone of the connotations which began to cohere around
engraving three t;...... . een vanatwns. It appears twice as an
' uues as a smgle-she t d the figure of Luther. The emphasis, rather, was religious.
book illustrations Thirt e woo cut and twenty-four times in
- een of these em t d f . Tltis is confirmed by the early pamphlets about Luther. Luther as monk is
Augsburg and one from C ana e rom Strassburg, four from
o1mar. The portrat 1 o fLu h - - he who lives a pious Christian life; as doctor he who is a pious teacher; as a
used twenty-nine t;~ . hirt t er ill the mche was also
· ...... es In t een variati · - man of the Bible he who points to saving doctrine. All three are emphasised
smgle-sheet woodcuts orb dsh ons, illcludmg one engraving and five
- roa eets The t - in Luther's defence as early as 1520, in a pamphlet wltich argues that he must
t h en place of public ti ·_ wenty-two wh1ch can be traced to
a on appeared m t 1 d' - instruct the folk by virtue of !tis office as a monk (ain ordensmann), a
from Strassburg thr f we ve e 1t1ons from Augsburg five
' ee rom Basel f ' preacher and a doctor-" These features are stressed repeatedly in the pam-
German edition Alth gh b ' one rom Nuremberg and in one Low
· · au ased on th lik phlets of 1521-2 dealing with the 'Luther affair'. The Luther portraits thus
maJority of these depl.Ctl- f Lu e eness supplied by Cranach, the
. ons o the form part of a powerful and extensive religious sign, based on the most
nantly m two south Ge r as monk were published predomi-
The three sign 'd rman centres, Strassburg and Augsburg a popular image, Luther as monk. However, the portraits go on to develop a
h . s 1 entifymg Luther as - more intricate assembly of images around the general notion of Luther as a
t e B1ble establish a cod f a monk, as a doctor and as a man of
e o recognitio f · man of religion.
may appear separately . . n or unages of Luther in which they
L th 0 r ln combmati Th . '
u eras monk with -th on. e most Widely used was that of First, he is shown as inspired by the Holy Spirit (ill. 8), To a woodcut
' 0 r Wl out the Bible alth
• ough the Bible appears in aver showing him framed in a niche, an extra block has been added above his head,

:.Smoo•icbad
Styfd 21aiDJihncr wn
t:fflfin!JCIJ.
~on Oer lEbllfifmnlgm 1recbrgc~
Sfi'(I~Jbklt leer i)oaozf~tr1crclrt!l.a~/ aill
Obcr411" r¢~n ranfllld) tt~tf.wpc

-
feJ!Ia'r:IQcn 4Dflr:FrtJ•

:Jnr..!6orl)q<ao

4 6 Titlepage of M. Stiefel, Von der Christfermigen · - - leer

Lucas Cranach th
5 Lucas Cra e Elder, Luther i D , Doctoris Martin Luthers (1 522), BL
nach the Elder L h n octor s Cap (IS 21) BM 7 Illustration in Eberlin von Giinzburg, History Jacob Propsts
' ut eras M k . '
on tn Niche, GNM (Colmar, 1521)
18 Image., of Luther 1519 25 Images of Luther 1519- 25 ]9

containing a dove symbolising the Holy Spirit. This can he dated as 1520 or the Church was underlined by an inscription calling him 'a servant of Jesus
early 1521, and the sign of the dove was used in five other depictions." The Christ and a restorer of Christian doctrine' (my emphasis)." This was perhaps
VIsual connotations attached to luther here are also echoed in printed pam- the most successful single version of a Luther portrait, appeanng as a smgle-
phlets, which stress that God has enlightened him, inspired him or chosen him sheet woodcut, and in no less than nine different works. Sainthood was also
to speak out against falsehood. The niche alluded to this indirectly, for in the emphasised in a 1523 copy by Daniel Hopfer of Cranach's portrait of Luther
middle ages it was usually a backdrop for Evangelists or significant theologians. in his doctor's cap. By adding a nimbus, the artist gave a new weight to the
:rt'e dove, however, is a much more explicit sign to borrow from the medieval original inscription, now translated into German (ill. 10). Th; most extreme
Iconography of the saints. The dove, as the bearer of divine inspiration, was development of this theme is found in the titlepage of Luther s edrt~on of the
an attribute o;ven to Ch h F h · .
.,. urc at ers, m particular to Gregory the Great. The ~ew Testament, published by Hans Hergot m Nuremberg rn _15.4- 6 (ill.
Holy Spirit was said to have dictated St Gregory's works into his ear and this 11 ) 15 Luther is seated in his doctor's cap and gown, wntmg mhiS study'
srgn of divine grace elevated him above all other Church teachers. The attri- with a crucifix before him, and has the nimbus and the dove. Consr?enng the
bute was sometimes oive t h
_ _ .,. n o ot er great Fathers of the Church for example, work in which it appeared, the identification as a Father of the Church. 01
tn Michael Pacher's A it 0 f h C'h - . '
. ar t e urch f·athers m \1unich which shows SS even an Evangelist, could not be more explicit. This dep1ctron extended 11 ~
~ugusit;ne, Ambrose, Jerome and Gregory, all with the do;e of divine inspir- influence beyond Germany, appearing as an illustration m a Czech edttton o
~ "· The co~notations were clear enough, and it was only a short step
10
15
rom here to depict Luther as a saint_ one of Luther's works (ill. 12)- k r
Such depictions reveal a desire to place Luther within the framewor 0
A copy of illustration 8 .; L h .
and th · b .,.ves ut er both the sign of divine inspiratiOn divine history, and to single him out as a chosen tool of the divine plan. Thrs
procee~i~rm a~st~; sainthood (ilL 9)_ When it was used in a 1521 report of the .IS confirmed in pamphlets about Luth er. 'fh ese see him as raised up by God,
gs Re!chstag of Wonms, the notion of Luther as a Father of or divinely chosen. 1, For others h e 1s
. a prop het , even a Daniel awakened
among the people 18
A 1520 pamphl et, wn'tt en by 'the student Laux

k 'th Dove and l~limbus

9 Hans Baldung Grien, Luther as Man wz
8 in BL 3906.f.ll9 , C with Nimbus
Luther as Monk with D (
0 l0 Daniel Hopfer, Luther in Doctors ap,
" 1520'), BM
(1523), B'.l, GN\1
20 Imageso[Luther 1519-25 Images of Luther 1519-25 21

Gemigger': names him an apostle, chosen by God as a light for Christendom'' Frederick the Wise. The door of the tomb is then opened, and Christ in the
A 1523 dmlogue extends this thought further, calling him 'an angel tool or form of the Word of God rises again. The three Marys, who come to the grave
· t as J ohn the Baptist was an angel sent to prepare
prophet of God' , JUS ' the seeking Christ, the holy Scripture, and who are told to go and proclaim his
way of the Lord.'" Here the term 'angel' is used in a general sense only, to resurrection, are Luther, Melanchthon and Karlstadt. 23 This is an allegorical
mean a messenger from God, but there was another usage which related rendition of the old prophecy, to which Marschalck explicitly refers, but he
Luther to the prophetic literature so prevalent at the time. Thus a pamphlet has no doubts about the divine and far from allegorical role of Luther. He
of 1524ldentifies him with the angel in Apocalypse 18.1 -2 who is sent from gives an acronym of Luther's name which not only singles him out as a pro-
heaven to overthrow the Babylonian whore and to break the cup of abomin· phetic figure, but also links him to the widespread literature on the Antichrist:
atwn from which all the kings and peoples of the earth have drunk 21 L Lautere Evangelische Lehre (Proclatmer of evangelical doctrine
The apocalyptic note was made more explicit in 1523 by Haug Marschalck, pun on Luther Lauter)
who lmked Luther to pop ul ar proph ec1es . about the Emperor Frederick Ill. U Uberf/ussige gnad des heyligen geists (abundant grace of the Holy
Thi s eschatological figu t Spirit)
. d re was o return from the grave as the renewer of
Chnsten om who would
' over th row Rome, chastise the clergy and recover T Trewlich diener Christi {loyal servant of Christ)
th e h oI Y sepulchre 22 M hal k
. all . · arsc c merges many elements of this legend in a Daz bedeut (that signifies)
seml- egoncal passage b H He/ian (Elias)
a out Luther. The holy sepulchre is guarded by
mo nk s and clergy wh tt
overcome b th 'E o a empt to prevent Christ's resurrection, but they are E Enoch welche den Entchrilt verraten (and Enoch, who expose the
Y e mperor Frederick', here in the figure of Luther's protector Antichrist)
R Rabi das er ist meister worden a/ler schrifft schender (Rabbi, for he
24
has ,;,astered all defilers of Scripture).
In popular legend, Enoch and Elias were the two prophets sent by God to
expose the Antichrist's identity, so that Marschalck has also assimilated
Luther to this evocative realm of popular prophecy."
Sanctification of Luther reaches its apogee in a pamphlet published by
Melchior Ramminger of Augsburg in 1521, where Luther's trial at Worms is
described in terms of Christ's Passion. This pamphlet, which exlsts 10 two
versions, the other also published in Augsburg in 1521 ," indicates how
important pictorial representations of Luther were thought to be at the l>me.
The parallel between the Passion and Luther's hearing at Worms is kept as
close as possible until the crucifixion, where Luther is not executed, but his
books are burned instead. However, a Dominican pins up a picture of Luther
to be burned, over which is written: 'This is Martin Luther, a teacher of the
Gospel.' Here the parallel is once more made exact, for burning in effigy was
regarded as a magical means of harming the person represented. To the left
and right of Luther are burned (depictions of?) Hutten and Karlstad!, but
Luth er •s picture
· .
rruraculausly refuses to b urn, un til placed in a contamer
.. of
pitch, which melts into the flames. This book-burning was wholly fictltwus,
but it has all the truth of incipient myth, and while the further >mphed
, d · thi ark it was explic1tly
Parall eI, Luther s resurrection, is not referre tolD 5 w
ll Titlepage to Das new T - - .. . .
drawn in others · a1 · f a
~~rtmberg, l 525) estament Deutsch (H. Hergot, In I 523 Heinrich von Kettenbach published an evangelic verswn °
lllustrahon in Czech d. . Prognos!!c:
· .
small popular works !SSUed annu Y Wl
all th predictions for the
dts Sakraments (I 523) e Ihon of Luther, Vom Anbeten comin d the backbone of popular prophet!.c
g year or years. These forme
literature, and in the manner of the genre, Kettenbach foretold Luther s
22 Images of Luther 1519-25 ]mages of Luther 1519-25 23

resurrection linkin hi . . one showing Luther and Hutten side by side as defenders of Christian
'h g m agam to the Anl!christ literature·
Lu t er will be as if buried d h · liberty ,33 but two others correspond to the religious sign discussed above.
grave but he will . . ' an t e tonsured ones will guard the
One showed Luther with the nimbus of sainthood, the single·sheet version of
the ~tichristian h;:~e a~:~~:fterwards (like Christ), and will alarm illustration 9; the other was perhaps a version of illustration 11. The former
it and will b g and Magog, and defeat a great part of
' ecome valued · h was still circulating in 1522, when the )iuremberg Council prohibited its
belief was when he _aga,,m t roughout the world, as Christ's sale. 14 There was, without doubt, an extension of late-medieval veneration of
' rose agam
These sentiments also found ex . . . the saints onto Luther, and it seems that the widespread demand for Luther's
Luther as monk, shown full.Jen p~:s!On m Luther po:trait~re. A depiction of portrait was influenced by a desire for the heilbringende Schau discussed in
Dahlem, has the inscript· gt nd carrymg the Bible, m the collection of
!On around 1ts fo ·d • the previous chapter. Without doubt, Luther was well on the way to becom·
the papacy, and hasrisen . . ur Sl es: Luther has suffered under ing the object of a new cult, what both he and Era!mus called a 'sect' when
How are we t . agam m the hearts of Christians •28
o Interpret these views 0 f L . applied to the followers of medieval saints. The growing usage of the term
attempt to present him fi uther? They certainly show an 'Lutheran' as a partisan label during the years up to 1525 confirms this view''
G as a Igure embody' th . .
ermans during ]520 _ Th a! mg e rehg10us yearnings of many The pamphleteers, at least, soon tried to correct the impression that
t ra d.ltlonal
. 1
religious fram. eyk so show th at h e h as been assimilated into a adhering to Luther's doctrine meant adhering to a new sect. A Dialogue
appears as a living saint TheweoPr ' creating a hagiography through which he
· aSSion p all I · · between a Father and Son concerning Martin Luther's Teaching of 1523 is
cannot be regarded merely ll ar e Is especmlly significant here. It typical. The father is won over by his son to Luther's belief, and avows that
t d' . as a egory o .
ra Itlon of conforming to th lif ' r as a verSion of the pious medieval he will be a good 'Martinis!', but he quickly corrects himself and states that
took so many pains to point out e thaeofCh't"Tns ·. he Reformers themselves one should be not Martinis! but Christian. 36 Another dialogue of 1523 con·
mere humans being placed a! t t exaggeral!on of this tradition had led to
tains a similar admonition to be 'not Lutheran but Christian'." But this was
~attributing to them such ex:o;ti~~~he same level as the divinity, or at least only a marginal modification to the myth developing around Luther's figure.
e role of Christ as sole media to Th sancl!ty that they seemed to challenge
Myth is understood here in Roland Barthes' sense, in which Luther becomes a
certamly approached this level Hr. . e aura of sanctity cast around Luther
tlve and 1 · ere VIsual de · · sign which itself constitutes a signifier in a more elaborate semiological
simi! ess open to qualification th . p!Ct!Ons were both more sugges·
system'" We may see this by examining Luther illustrations, where the sign
. e or allegory could be ignored an pnnted pamphlets. Even the use of
glonfication taken literally by many of Luther's supporters and his created by the portraits is placed in a narrative context.
In some accounts L th. , . , One or two of these illustrations contain the simplest narrative action, as
of a medieval . u er s JOurney to Wo in illustration 12, where Luther is greeted by a messenger. Similar is the title·
to crack un samt. One chronicler recordedrms was recorded like the legend
page of a 1524 pamphlet describing the Devil issuing a challenge to Luther.
A . . der the Weight of those th how the church timbers began
ugustm1an ch urc h · Luther is said togah ered to h ear h'liD preach in the Erfurt Two versions of this titlepage simply show Luther seated in his study as a
the hr
hi die onicler commented: 'This w !have stilled the danger with a word and messenger from hell enters through the door. 39 Such depictions, however,
s SC!ples cam . as e first si th ' show a narrative development from illustration 12, for Luther is confronted
written in 15 e to him and served him.'"' I hi gn at Luther worked, and
by an adversary. Indeed, the most common form of narrative shows Luther as
gress through4~~ Fnedrich Myconius, who h:d ~HIStory of the Reformation'
protagonist. Its lowest level of polemic is found in the titlepage to a report of
gables t furt, wrote how the Devil een present at Luther's pro·
o prevent L th had to d Luther's hearing at Worms (ill. 13), where he is denoted by the familiar
might be called . u er preaching in nearb Go r~, own stones from the
figure of the monk, but where there are few other connotations. It is more
indignantly b rnto question had the yl tha. Such later testimony
a out a · il papa legate AI d complex in illustration 14 where Luther is present at the burning of his
down from th SliD ar adulation of L h . ean er not reported boaks before the pope, cardinals•
e cart on his . ut er m w and clergy. Luther confronts the pope and
garment and b arnval, a priest t h orms. As he stepped
. · casted th erea fter that he h ouc ed hi m t h ree times . . the clergy in another report of the proceedings at Worms, published in Augs·
sa.mts. One on his
man even ar d ad a relic 0 f h burg in 1521 by Melchior Ramminger (ill. 15). In both cases, the literal truth
was without . ha gue before a crowd t e greatest of the
1
sn, dn onthe k of the encounter matters less than the fact that the Church authorities are
Augustine'' ever erred, and w th mar etplace that Luther
as erefore t 0 b established as Luther's true adversaries. (Luther never confronted the pope,
Ponraits of Lu h e placed above St
Alea d t er played . nor were his books burned before the pope and his cardinals.) .
n er was incensed over th :m I_mportant part in this adulation and It is illuminating that a simple juxtaposition can change the way in whlch a
eir Wide dist n'b Uhon
. in 15 21. He mentfoned work can be read. Ramminger bad used the same block for another work that
24 Images of Luther 1519-25 Images of Luther 1519 25 25

same year, to show the pope in lea ue . - . as German Hercules and the title page of the pamphlet The Lutheran Streb katz
illustration, the left half of the blogck With the Devil (ilL 16). For the Luther (see ills. 23, 43), will be discussed below.
as monk inset on another half-b1o . w~s cut away, and the figure of Luther Let us tum our attention to illustrations with more detailed narrative.
antipathy This reveal h _ ck m Its place: collaboration thus becomes
· s ow quickly th L th · Luther appears with Hutten and Johann Reuchlin as 'defenders of Christian
which propagandists could d e u er Image had become a schema liberty' in the 1521 titlepage of the History of the Four Heretic Dominicans
. a apt to their purposes
Two paradigms of Luth ' ·. these illustrations_ of Berne (ilL 18). The pamphlet describes a notorious case of monastic fraud
the Devil the other the er s adversarie s emerge m . One is
. ' pope and the cler -th . from the beginning of the sixteenth century, which involved a fake miracle.
This occurred in very . , . gy • e two could easily be merged.
Simp1e •0 rm m a 1521 Luther had no connection with the case, but he is included here, possibly
opponents, by Mattheus G .d. pamphlet attacking Luther's because some of those responsible for the prosecution of the offenders were
beast dressed in a monk's hn~ms, where the Devil is shown as a crouching
among Luther's leading opponents. Luther is depicted in his doctor's cap in
ing the book and facing th a Itd(ill. l?). Luther is depicted full-length hold·
. e rea er directly Th , his role as adversary. He appears in this role in the complex titlepage to a
effect!Ve here. Luther is l'd . · e arrangement of shapes is very Swiss pamphlet of 1520, On the Old and New Belief(see ill. 48), and again in
th a so I ' vertical figu f
e reader, strongly contrasted 'th h re, eet spread apart, firmly facing the titlepage of a pamphlet sympathetic to the orthodox viewpoint, A Game
the monk demon which c WI t e horizontal, crouching bestial form of
d •aces sideway Luth ' ofBow/s 41 In all these cases the depiction of Luther is a sign of his opposition
emon angrily breathes fiu d s. er appears firm but placid the
e an tears with 1't 1 , to orthodox belief.
arrangement in which Luth . s caws at a cowl The spatial Other woodcuts reveal the steady accumulation of layers of connotation
contrasts with the sugg t- er IS placed above this figure rounds off these
sa . o40 es ton of Luther' 1. . around Luther's image. The illustration known as The Divine Mill (see ill. 76)
nes_ Two other examples h' h s u !Imate VICtory over his adver· takes up the associations with the Bible established by showing Luther with a
w Ic stress the th erne of confrontation Luther
'

13 r-Itlepage to D
Worm: (1. Nadler octor Martini Luthers
14 Titlcpa e 'Augsburg, 1521) BL o[[ent/iche verher zu 15 Title page to A in anzaigung wie D. Martinus Luther zu
(1524') BL g to Em unterred de.
'
B
ap.rts und seiner cardinelen
Wurms (M. Ramminger, Augsburg, 15 21)
16 Titlepage to A in grosser Preiss so der Furst der he/len
(M. Ramminger, Augsburg, 1521), BL
26 Images of Luther I5I9 25 Images of Luther 15I9 --25 27

book. Luther is shown distributing the Bible to the pope and the clergy, who
l. VTHERVS. reject it with horror. A fragment of a coloured woodcut (ill. 19) links Luther
and Hus as good shepherds. Luther, holding the book, stands beside the
crucified Christ in the sheepfold. llus stands outside, clearly an indication
that he is hut a forerunner of Luther. A reference in the accompanying text
to false shepherds doubtless refers to a lost part of the woodcut, which prob-
ably showed the pope and cardinals as ravening wolves. In the works so far
discussed, this is the first iconographical reference to Luther's doctrinal
emphasis on the crucified Christ as the sole mediator of man's salvation.
The next example (ill. 20) makes many of these references more explicit,
although Ilus is omitted. Here we see a pope and cardinal as wolves ravaging
the flock of Christ, which seeks shelter around the crucifiX. Luther, in his
doctor's hat, carrying a pen and the Bible, moves towards them with a gesture
warding them off. The pen is no doubt a sign of his writings in defence of
true Christians. On a small hill in the background, two salnts, each carrying a
book, and perhaps intended to he Peter and Paul, point to the crucified Christ
and the open page of Scripture. In the top right-hand corner, a goat and a
wolf stand he fore a church building. This may allude to the biblical separation
of the sheep from the goats at the Last Judgment. It may also imply that those
who seek shelter in the old belief are goats, who will fall prey to the wolves
when removed from the protection of Christ. The contrast between salvation
and damnation is also alluded to by the rays of the sun which suffuse the left-
hand side of the woodcut, while the right-hand side, towards which the
wolves carry the stolen sheep, is clouded in darkness. The left-hand side is
also rich with vegetation, the opposite side desolate and stony.
In the printed text Luther speaks in the tirst person, stating that the shep-
herds have become wolves in disguise. He has taught, preached and written
about this, even at danger to his own life. Indeed, Luther's vulnerability to
attack from the wolves is emphasised iconographically by placing him outside
the fold_ With this illustration, we can see evangelical propaganda reachmg a
more subtle and complex level than the near-hagiography of the portraits. It
uses a wider range of signs and codes, which will be discussed in detail in a
later chapter. Here we must note that it allows the presentation of a more
elaborate message about Lutl1er's doctrine.
This can be seen in a 1524 broadsheet, Luther leads the faithful from
Egyptian Darkness (ill. 21 ). Luther in his doctor's cap leads the faithful out of
a dark cavern towards the light, where they gather around the saving image of
Chnst crucified. Above the cave a throng comprised of the pope, the clergy
and Luther's opponents attemp; to prevent this. Using the paraphernalia of
17 Illustration to M G .d. orthodox belief, they try both to distract the faithful from the crucrfied
18 T . nr IUS \{
. . Jtl~pagt: to His ton ron d·,, urnarus Leviathan ( 1521 ), G :'\1M Chnst and to drown out Luther's words. Inside the cave, the figures of an
Strassburg. 1.;; 111
~~
· £n fier kf:'t::.ren p.1£-d·1Rer (H. Prr.=us~.
emperor and a king. representing secular authority, resolutely face away from
the light tnto
· ·
the darkness, completely disregar d.mg Luth er ' s message · The
28 Images of Luther 1519 25 Images of Luther I 519-25 29

printed text elaborates on this basic idea. The faithful in the darkness cry out
to Luther to pity them, so blinded are they by human Jaws and teaching that
they cannot recognise Christ, who alone is the mediator to God. Luther
replies that he has long taught God's Word and opposed false teaching, but his
teaching has been condemned and secular rulers have turned their backs on
him. He points the right way to God. The faithful respond by praising God
for sending the prophet Luther, who has enabled them to recognise Christ.
Throughout the rest of the text, the pope and his adherents rage against
Luther for his teaching.
In this broadsheet there are several features of Luther's image layered one
upon another. He is the prophet who shows men the right way; he is also the
teacher of true belief. There is a possible parallel with Christ's harrowing of
hell, and traces of Luther as medieval saint, for it is Luther to whom the
people appeal to show them the way to God. The visual signs of the latter are
the woman kneeling behind Luther in the cave, with her hands clasped in a
gesture of supplication or prayer, aod the man who grasps Luther's left hand
as Luther points to the crucifix with his right. Luther is thus simultaneously
teacher {emphasised by his doctor's beret), leader and prophet. He is also the
adversary of false belief - it is the pope and his followers who actively
oppose Luther aod seek to hinder him in his mission. His vulnerability, and
by implication his selflessness, are stressed by the allusion to his candem·

II
I
,i
.I
I
I

r. .. , .... ,.~ .. ,...., ... ,,lfo~·-"

19 Master MS I .,_to'"'" ...... ~~"'""" ..
Dahlem , , Jutherand Hus with Chr· t. h ~~:~:.::; :~~;:~;;,;~~~!~~
zs zn t e Sheepfold, ..~.,..-... -·-- -~·-~r ~ ..
20 Pope and Cardinal as Wolves, with Luther and Chn.st
30 Images of Luther 1519-25
Images of Luther 1519-25 31

nation by authority. Finally, there is the doctrinal content, the stress ~ 0

Christ as the sole mediator, which is established to be the purpose of Luthen
teaching.

A fmal example of this kind of narrative illustration comes from tbe

Nuremberg
42 artist, Hans Sebald Behem, with a text from Hans Sachs (ill.
22) luther confronts those who stand to lose by his proclamation of true
doctrine. Wearing his doctor's cap, he leads a group of common folk, largely
of humble origin, including a peasant holding a flail on his shoulder. Facrng
them are a group of the 'godless', those whose material interests are en-
dangered by luther's attack on Catholic belief and practice. Depicted are the
canon, the mass-priest, the painter, the bell-founder and the fisherman. The
printed text adds several others: prelates, monks, organists, gold-beaters and
manuscript illuminators, woodcarvers glass-painters scribes choristers,
,
candlemakers, parchmenters and, of course, '
priests' concubines. '
The leader 0 f
the godless points an accusatory finger at luther and his followers. In reply,
luther points to the open page of Scripture. Behind him, his argument is
supported by tbe peasant with the flail, whose open-palmed gesture indicates
his approval of luther's reference to Scripture. In a circle of clouds, Christ as
Lord of the world, with orb and sceptre, sits in judgment over the dispute,
i.•: ··;,

Luther leads the F: . h' I

art JU from Egyptian Darkness ( 1524)
22 The Complaint of the Go dless against Luther
32 Images of Luther 1519-25

awarding the judgment to Luther's group (ind1cate . db Y th e 1·n c·lination of the

sceptre to that side). b t simony
In the printed text this scene is described as a dispute largely a ou f Th;
the sale of holy things as a form of financial . exp1alta °
· t'1on f the faith u1. fil
text placed in Luther's mouth makes cleat that the go dl ess a1 so seek to pro s
from false belief. Moreover, they refuse to debate the matter, b u t byr mean the
of bans and prohibitions attempt to intimidate Luther from rcvea mgf ,
truth. The true judgment, however, is given by Ch nst, . w h 0 co ndemns G as 1
belief and remmds. the reader of h!S. command to preac h the pure ospe. . es1
Christ's condemnation of those who persecute hiS . prop h ets aga1·n under.1m f
Luther's prophetic Image.
. . Luther 1s
. a teac h er, an a d vcrsary of false behe ' a
proclaimer of true doctrine and one specially favoured by God. . t
In the Luther portraits we discerned one dommant . Image,
. Luther as sam '
which constituted a major paradigm for propaganda m . Luther •s caus e· We canf
now add a second, based on the illustratwns.
. . Luther appears as a teacher . .o
true doctrine an opponent of false belief and the exposer of. t h e un chnstlan . t
nature of the ' papal Church. Both paradigms can be directly related to d'lS !inC th
images of Luther. Luther as saint draws largely on the image of Luther e
monk; Luther as teacher on that of Luther the doctor. .
There was also a third image, which seems to be visually less developed lfl
the propaganda: Luther as nationalist and humanist hero. The early portraits
were given a humanist tag about Luther's immortality, following perhaps th~
Renaissance custom of portraying the great and glorifying the deeds on wh!c
ftheir greatness rested. The niche was used in the Renaissance as a backdrop
or portraits
· of famous men. Such forms of representation stresse d non·
religious, secular values, something far from Luther's purpose. It shows how
humanists attempted to assimilate him to classical models, rather than to
biblical or devotional images, such as the prophet or the saint. A good example
of the type is the illustration Luther as German Hercules (ill. 23). 43 Luther !S
depicted in monastic habit with tonsure, but he has been given the signs of
the classical hero Hercules, the lion's pelt and the club. Hanging from a rope
through his nose is the pope, and with his club he smites down the cowering
figure of Hochstraten. On the ground lie those already dispatched: Aristotle,
Aqumas, Occam, Nicolas of Lyra, Peter Lombard (identified by his Book of
Sentences) and Duns Scotus. Behind Luther, another monk flees in terror
from the scene.

He TheI Latin
Eq text flUs out the classical allusions ' to three of the labours of
rcu es. uated with the many-headed hydra are the various figures who

~d
represent pagan Philosophy and the Scholastics who like the hydra, grow
another head as quickly as one is cut off. They are as as savage Cerberus,
by Which perhaps Hoch t t · · d h's
defeat of the triple-b 0 d's dra Ge .
en IS Inten ed. Luther is especially praised for 1
Th' b d " 'Yon, an alluSion to the triple tiara of the pope. German Hercules
IS roa sheet was produced in I 522, possibly from humanist circles close 23 Hans Holhein the Young er ' Luther as
(1 523), Zurich
34 lmageso[Luther 1519 25 lmaf(es of Luther 15]9,-25 35

:~g;;:s~:tsh. It attedsts the narrow confines within which the humanists could
quer!' llutten's comment refers to the scene below, where armed knights and
mercenaries drive off the pope and a crowd of Catholic clergy, alluding to
hero found !itt! anb Jtd IS not surprisin g th at t h e rmage
er • · of Luther as classical
e roa popular usage. Hutten's solution to Germany's problems, an anticlerical war. The text above
The other feature of humanist d . . this scene also expresses Hutten 's sentiments: 'l hate the church of the wicked.'
national hero Th eprctwn of Luther was his portrayal as
- ere are overtones of th th . L At the top of the page, God the Father hollis an arrow poised to throw at the
for it was no doubt d ll e erne m uther as Gennan !Iercules,
mo e ed on an earlie . retreating clergy, and David, identified by his harp, holds an inscription from
Hercules 44 Th th . r vers10n o f ~1ax1m1han
. ..
as German
· e erne Is most evident h · Psalm 92.4: 'Arise, 0 judge of the earth, render to the proud their deserts.'
and Hutten as defe d f ' owever, m depictions pairing Luther
n ers o truth and Ch · · l"b This titlepagc portrays Luther and Hutten as proclaimers of divine wrath
annoyance at the r .d · nstran I erty. A!eander recorded his
against the Roman Church. Luther has been assimilated to Hutten's pro-
depictions are kno~pt ~a1e of such a picture in Warms in 1521.45 Two such
gramme, but the image of Luther on which the work draws is still that of the
clad in armour and ~ow~:dsh:~~ ~~th figures half-length (ill. 24). llutten is
religious man wl10 speaks the truth. This shows the strength of the paradigms
half-drawn from the bb d e wreath of the poet laureate his sword
sea ar Luther · sh ' of Luther as saint and Luther as teacher of true belief. In visual propaganda,
facing right before a . h · rs own as a monk holding the book,
. . ' me e. The text i Laf . . . the image of Luther as nationalist or humanist hero is usually subordinate to
mission but in humanr· t t . n 1ll emphasises Luther's dtvme
' s erms:tfhe· d either or both of these, and the paradigm of Luther as humanist hero did not
the gods will be aroused In l'k f . rs efeated by papal error, the anger of 46
. . · l e ashwn Hutt ' · . . . achieve any comparable popularity .
promlSlng to restore Ger , '. en s mscnptwn mvokes the gods,
How are we to understand the use made by Reformation propaganda of
Another version sh many s golden liberties.
. ows Luther and II It f I
b erng that used for the G 'd' . u en u !-length, the Luther depiction
effecl!ve. use in the t'tl m ms dralogue ( see ill . I 7). It found its most
b . I epage to Hutten's n· I .
urg rn I 52! (ill. 25) Th fi •a O!(Ues, wh1ch appeared in Strass·
t Ie ft and right of the . e . Igures are used aImost as litle . decorations placed
0
L h , pnnted title B0 th fi '
ut er s reads: 'I sing the t th'· · 1gures have Latin inscriptions.
ru , Hutten's·· 'W e shall conquer, we shall con-
!.,; CH 1\ 1 - 1
' :, T . ,A ~ AE LIBERT AT IS
• 0 \" '· N ,._ T 0 W. 1 ji v I. ~cfp~OO, biid)lirr
~r>l~ron.l)urrm.

ifcbcr one\E rfl,

ifcbcr oae \nnocr.
ir!>ldtfcue.oocr oic
RJmLf~tDl~.alng:frir.

ii'tc iilnf~awcnocn,~~~

24
25 Title page to Jlutten, Gesprach buchlin (J. Schott,
Strassburg, 1 522), BL
36 Images of Luther 1519 25

these paradigms? It is the f · ·

invest him WI-th k- d unctwn of the early portraits of Luther that they
by which h - a m of Weberian c1~ansma,
e IS set apart from oth
· - an extraordinary quality
wtth
47 . .
. 3
as monk and so f . . er men. Continual emphasis on his office
• a man o rehgton d h' ENEMIES OF THE GOSPEL
someone espect'ally 'an on IS personal piety designates him as
c1ose to God It .
acting within the c t t f . · was natural to present him as a samt,
on ex a dtvine hi t ·
him with a special f f _ s ory · This propaganda image invested
arm o authonty 1d .f - h
Weber's terms 'a p . d. _ • entt ymg im as a prophet - in
. - , ure 1y m IV!dual b f - . 1t is ironic that the most popular image of Luther during the early years of
mlSston proclaims a . . d earer o chansma, who hy vlrtue of h1s
re 1Igious octri d. . the Reformation should have been Luther as monk. From the beginning,
he could be seen to b k ne or tvme commandment' .48 In this way
rea 1egiti t I · monks were regarded as his chief opponents, and early propaganda for the
Church. By invoking a s f rna e Y With the established order in the
ource o au tho 't . evangelical movement was directed largely against the institution of monasti-
the Church is morally .t. n Y outstde and above it, opposition to
1egt tmate 49 Th 1 - cism. This is hardly surprising, for there was a long tradition of popular
opposed to Luther are als · e ogtc goes a step further. Those
- · . 0 criticism of clerical laxity, and the humanists had already waged an energetic
th ts Is of dtvine origin, the opposed to th e sourc_e of hts- ·
message, and smce
0 campaign against monasticism. It was only natural that the image of Luther as
shall see in the fol!owin : ppose God and are m league with the Devil. We
Finally, it is necessarygctapbter how this theme was developed. a man living a pious Christian life should have been juxtaposed to a picture of
h." t oncal
· 0
Luther but the L he aware th at we are describing not the real-life. monastic vice.
'
construct an ideolo•;cal
ut er of th
. _ e propaganda works. These sought to
Pre-Reformation criticism was blunt enough. An excellent example is a
'd· ~ re1at!Onshtp b satirical depiction of monastic lack of sobriety, dating from the last quarter
VI mg powerful affectt've a etween Luther and his followers pro-
d rgument t · ' of the fifteenth century (ilL 26). An abbot reclining on a giant jawbone is
an to induce others to d th s 0 JUStify Luther's break with the Church
~urely a propaganda creati~ ~same. Yet we have seen that this was not
pulled across the ice by nuns because he has become so swollen from drink
Itself th at many people shn, "" that he cannot walk. Two others similarly laden break through the ice. and
d there is evt-d ence outside the propaganda
recorded are these p -
. such perceptions whil . ercephons. The propaganda both
d omg ' it att empted to to h e It sought t 0 arouse them in others 50 In so
age. We shall . - uc many diffe t 1 .
Investigate some f th ren evels of consciousness of the
o ese levels m ore f uIly m
- later chapters.

26 The Abbot on the Ice, Albertina

37
38

Behind the seated monk stands an older monk. perhaps his supennr. whu
laments:
This doesn't happen by my wilL
Hut I must watch and he still.
This work demonstrates the simplicity and directness of visual prLlpagJlHLt
through its capacity to comhinc visual signs and primitive rcadin~ ahility to
tell a dramatic story. Its effectiveness is dependent on the skilful structural
relationship between the various signs. The picture is constructed around the
antithesis between two groups of characters. The two monks anJ the ~irl 11n
the left are separated from the farmer and his wife tHl the right. They aa·.
respectively. the offending and aggrieved parties. The tah\e hoth links I hem
into a larger group and separates them, for it partly impedes the angry farmer·~
[hreatening movement towards the monk.
The antithesis is reinforced by the socio-cultural code which tdenttlles the
characters. The farmer and his wife are clad in dress typical of the country·
folk of the time, while the monks wear their readily recngnisable habits. The
daughter, in contrast to her mother's peasant dress, wears a more fashHmahle
style, showing that she is no doubt a willing sinner. It is more the exploitatlnn
of their state of need by the proffered money and the outrage to the farm!)
sense of decency that causes offence. All this is made fully clear by the
written text, which also adds the information that the monk has wml the
daughter by trickery.
The antipathy of the two groups is also established by a gestural code. The
monk and the maid are seated, they have been drinking, perhaps in an inn
The peasant and his wife are standing. he in an aggressive. argumentative
posture, the wife turning away in sorrow. The hand gestures are neatly
balanced_ The monk's left hand holds out the large coin. thus one of great
value; the peasant's points in accusation and warning. The monk's right hand
grasps firmly that of his prize, perhaps in parody of a wedding promise where
nght hands were joined; the peasant grasps the hilt of his sword, hts only
reply to this gesture of possession. The facial expressions complete the com·
position. The monk is calm, composed, sure of his ~,-ictory; the peasant Is
angry, frustrated, willing to use force as his last resort. These are all ,;sua\
codes which, when taken together, tell the story with sufficient clanty. The
Written texts add more information making the visual signs wholly un-
ambiguous. They confirm that the da~ghter is a willing party to the monk's
lust, that the old peasant can do nothing, that the mother sorrows over her
daughter's choice (although she does appear to smirk behind her hand-
kerchief'), and that the monk has had his way through deceit. Important to
their effect is that the texts arc in rhymed couplets. They were easily read out
to the non-literate and easily remembered.
Leonhaxd 8 eck TL Finally, one must be aware of the wider context in which this v.'ood.:ut
' ( ''e Monk a .
nd hu Maid (I 523) would have been read in 1523, for in that year it first became !Oescaparly
40 Enemies of the Gospel Enemies of the Gospel 41

clear that a new wave of peasant unrest had broken. It was no less clear that it ture is used here to suggest equivalence rather than antipathy. This may also
': 35 ?irectcd largely against the privileges of the clergy. Our woodcut there- be suggested by the two ilyrng birds on each side of the wheel. They seem to
fore mvokes a broader so•·r·al
" - me, li n ki ng c]enc
the · a1 Immorality
· to economic be ignoble birds. possibly ravens or crows, symbolising ill-fortune, dissension
exploitation
_ of a poor pea a t b .
s n ry Y an over-nch clergy, a favnunte . theme ol. or uncleanliness. 5 signs difficult to relate to the overall message. The owl
pnnted
. . propaganda Nowhe
·· ·t h b
re can 1 ave een more succinctly stated than in perched atop the wheel may symbolrse ignorance, or may be intended in the
thiS smgle woodcut. sense once used by Hans Sachs, to represent the blind children of the world,
Further social criticism of monasticism is found in another woodcut bv who cannot see and stubbornly persist in their sins. 6 If this is the case, it links
Reck from 1523, which condemns monastic life as parasitic (ill. 28). On th~ both sides of the picture. The mulish brutishness of iolly is equated with
left
. '. an old monk car nes · a nun on h'IS back m . a basket perhaps intended to monasticism, trapped by its uselessness and incapable of reform. More in-
srgmfy th t h · h. · ' directly, the woodcut as a whole alludes to another social issue which the
_a s e Is Is concubme. The monk carries a walking-stick and a wine
sack
.h as srgns of an idle d. 1·r
men 1cant 1 e. The nun attempts to spin yarn but reader in 1523 would hardly have overlooked. This was the common grievance
Wit out success for th b· 11 f
. ' e a o yarn falls onto the ground behind her indi·
' against the economic activity of nuns, whose spinning and weaving provide~
catmg lost effort Th. · d 1 . ' competition for town weavers. often the poorer element of urban society.
· IS ts rna e c ear by the mscription above her head: 'As
one w h o would spin · . b k . Another broadsheet from the early I 5 20s proclaimed the same message
. .t d m a as et -much ts lost and little won.' 3 On the right
IS sea e an ass. successfull 5 · · . by depicting the monk as spoon·seller (ill. 29). This presents monasticism as
indicating th t f y pmnmg on 3 wheel. It lS clad in a fool's costume,
a even a ool and an
than the mo k . d h
b
ass can e more successful at useful work 'spoon-work', that is, as something trifling and useless. 8 This is an interesting
could t .
n an t e nun The
·
11 .
sera agam spells out the message: 'If I case where the written text dominates the visual message, for it is only through
. no sptn ya:n thus, one would abuse me as an ass.'4 the scrolls around the woodcut that we are able to unravel what it wishes to
1he constructiOn is similar to Beck' 0 th convey. The tone " set by the scroll in the top left·hand corner, which corn·
both contrasted and linked b t . ~ er woodcut. The two sides are
Y he spmnmg-wheel. However, the binary struc- ments that it is a disgraceful state of affairs that the monks have become

Leonhard Beck Th M
, e onk and the Ass (1523)
29 The Monk as Spoon-seller, Dahlem
42 Enemies of the Gospel Fnemies of the Gospel 43

spoon-sellers. The scroll set sideways on the left-hand side continues the of a scarf around his neck. A ragged peasant, egged on by the figure of
thought, apparently placing its words in the mouth of the monk seated in the Poverty, has the monk by the forelock and attempts to force a book into his
centre of the scene. He laments that monasticism is worthless spoon-work; mouth. It is clear from the monk's hand gesture that he has refused to take
had he realised this he would not have entered the Order but studied more to hold of the book, and another book lying on the ground may also signify this
become a credit to God and the world. The small monk gathering up spoons refusal (although it may also be intended to indicate the monk's rule, which
from the ground has a similar lament in his scroll. He too thinks it is disgrace- he has dropped in fear)-"
ful; he must pick up all the spoons, but can se11 none at all. He is everybody's The structure is similar to that in Beck's woodcuts. The action is divided
footrag, perhaps a reference to his lowly position in the Order, indicated between two groups, the Vices on the left. the peasant and Poverty on the
VIsually by his smaller size. He has decided, therefore, to put up his spoons, right. The monk stands between both groups, uniting and dividing them.
that is, to leave the Order. Indeed, the scene could be read as a contest between the Vices and the
The scroll in the centre top is another lament from the larger monk about peasant, a tug-of-war between scarf and forelock. This is an unsatisfactory
the low general opinion of monas t'lClsrn. · Hi s Order 1s
· so httle
· regarded t h at explanation, because the monk is not a passive object in between, The book-
even the old woman scolds him. The scroll in the bottom left-hand corner eating, which could be interpreted in two different ways, only partly clanfies
Identifies her as a mille r' swt·re (sh e wears a miller's
. .
sack and twenty-four keys), the ambiguity. It could signify deserved punishment - a messenger who
from
. one of the 'dish on bl ' c ·
aura c protesstons. She reproves the monk for h1s · ·
1dle brought an unpleasant message was forced to eat it - but this does not qmte
hfe, and threatens to 'pi k 0 ff h. 1. , . fit the subject_ It could also stand for energetic, forceful instruction, as m
c IS tee wtth her spoon. This adapts a common
proverb, that one should delouse fools with a club, that is, that a fool's folly Ezekiel3.1 or in Apocalypse 10.8. If the book is meant to be the Bible, thiS IS
can
. only be beaten out of h'lm. ' Indeed, the old woman has set about this so the !tnse intended. The monk has been given a divine message, which, how-
VIgorously that her spoon has broken Wl'th th e Impact.
. ever unwilling, he must proclaim. 13
A new thought is in trod d · h
. uce mto t e schema by the scroll at the top left- There are also two possible interpretations of the woodcut as a whole.
h an d corner' agam spoken b th ld F'lf11, 1t
· could be read as an allegory of monastic
· l'f
his books f th n· Y e 0 woman. The monk should have stuck to I e. The monk
. re]· ects the
, or e tes have alm t t h' poverty which should characterise his way of life because he 1S held back by
flies will ind d t . . os ea en lm. He should see to his pox or the
ee urn htm mto a sh d Th' three vices all too common among monks. He must be forced to acc;t th:
the sexual ex . a ow· IS reference to the pox invokes
cess associated with t' . Word of God, which he ought to proclaim as part of hlS professron. Thi
overtone of the t , monas ICtsm, and calls attention to another
erm spoon work'. 5t . . f interpretal!on
·
theme is echoed b h - · nvtng or female favour. The sexual places less emphasis on the role o f t he Peasant - A second
sideways on the ri;t~~~~/~i~:~c~ll given to the old _woman, the one turned
ape's arsehole • The al · What are you gawpmg at, look rather at the
· sexu connotations 0 f th' · ·
but the ape showing h. IS InJUnction are plain enough,
IS rear to the monk h· b .
another reason as well H. as een placed m the picture for
· IS scroll reads- 'D 0 k .
berg?' This refers to b' - you now the old ape of He1del-
. a prover tal figure of .
bndge in Heidelberg b . h . an ape, wh1eh stood on the stone
eanng t e Inscriptio · 'Wh
you never seen an old a ? Lo k n. Y do you gawp at me, have
more 1' 10 The folly 0 f ped· u around H 1'd lb
e e erg and you will find many
stu ent or academ· l"f · .
the usage here applies it b IC 1 e IS lntended in the original, and
Y ana1ogy to man 1- . ,
con demnation of rna t" . as ICtsm. It also echoes Luther s
nas lClsm as an 'ap • , u
The examples discussed f h . es game and a 'fool's game'.
. so ar ave htt! · h
geIteal. They represent a st f . e m t em that is explicitly evan-
ream o social ·t · ·
welled up alongside the L th en lCism and anticlericalism which
tt k u eran moveme t Th
a ac ed monasticism but f n · e Reformation certainly
b ' so ar we have .
a use, not as an affront to 1 b . seen It condemned as a social
rue 1
152!
woodcut from Ha S b e 1ef· We en t era dtfferent
. dimension with a
1·d · ns e 1
ad Behe (ill
entrfied by Latin titles as Prid L m · 30). Three female figures,
e, ust and Avance, · restrain. a monk by means
30 Hans Sebald Be hem, Allegory of Monasticism
 Enemies of the Gospel 45
44 Enemies of the Gospel

possible interpretation would em ha . . the money sack held by the monk who falls backwards in the left foreground,
15
ragged peasant de . t d . P S!Se the soctal criticism in the work. The and by the wine glass and flask on the top of the tomb.
mainstay of th~ R:ftc e m so much of the early pamphlet literature as the The monks shrink back in terror from the risen Christ, who has overcome
he is the chastiser
ormatton
d d ' .
ts the m - - .
aJor VlCtlm of monastic vice. Fittingly, ali these obstacles and thrust back the stone. He stands before them as the
religious and he doesan athmomsher of th e monk, the layman reproves the Word of God risen in glory. On the right, a group labelled by an inscription
interpre;ations whethso rough the Word. This element is common to both on the gate-frame as the Christian host watch through the entrance to the
composition or• the p er we empha stse · 1h e monk, as the central figure of the
graveyard. Two women at the front of this group carry vessels, alluding to the
' same st
appeals to the easant
d 'das the. ap prove d party in the contest. The artist women who came to anoint Christ's body, only to find him risen. The depic·
. . an ar of ]Udgme t . b h d
Slgmfied by the book It . h n tn ot cases, the Word of Go , lion thus has a double message. Christ the Word has risen, and the monks are
. lS t e Word which th nk . . h
must accept to overcom h" . e mo reJects, and whtch e his enemies; though the monks will try to prevent it, the Word will soon be
. e 1s VIces.
. There IS no ambiguity in the ne . revealed to all true Christians.
(ill. 31), which presents xt example, Chnst appears to the Monks It was not only monks who were singled out as enemies of the Gospel. A
. k a c1ear-cut oppositi on o f monks and Christ himsel"I.
SlX mon s, identified by an in . . small woodcut by Hans Holbein the Younger shows how the norm of the
servants of the high . , scnptwn above the four on the left as 'the Bible was used to condemn the entire Catholic hierarchy. The woodcut (ill.
mt"gh t prevent Christ'spnest ' guard. Christ' s tomb. The lid of the tomb which 32) depicts true and false forgiveness. On the right, the pope sits enthroned in
d t . resurrectton bears th . • ,
oc nnes, laws and proh·b·t· ' e captton the burdensome human a large hall, apparently the choir of a church. The coats of arms which decor·
. a!.tsed in the fish on the top of
th e t omb , signifying fast"t 1 tons' · These a re VlSU
ate the choir-stalls. and the two banners above the pope's throne, contam the
foreground, signifying th mg.j and by the book held by the monk in the right
e r e of his Order. The monks' vices are indicated by device of the Medici family, a cluster of six roundels, so that the pope is
Leo X. Attended by a large retinue of cardinals and clerics, he grants a bull to
a kneeling monk. In the right foreground of this half of the woodcut, two
priests hear confession. One places his hand on the head of the pemtent m a
gesture of absolution and indicates with his rod a money chest before the
choir-stall. The penit~nt is expected to pay for his absolution. A stooping
woman, possibly the previous penitent, is already placing her contnbutwn m
the chest. On the left side of the choir. monks are busy selling indulgences. A
woman pays for her indulgence a burgher waits his turn and a ragged beggar
u ' · ~ill· t · dulgence forms. It
pon a crutch gestures towards a monk who IS 11 mg ou m ..
is unclear whether he is merely asking for an indulgence, or pleading h!S m·
ability to pay. The whole scene on this side depicts the forgiveness offered by
the Catholic Church forgiveness which must be purchased by cash. . .
On the left-hand 'side of the woodcut, one finds by contrast a depletion of
true forgiveness. D"'id and Manasses Old Testament types of penitent smner,
beg forgiveness from God the Father: Behind them stands the simple figure of

31 Ch ·
rzst appears to theM k d F lse Forgiveness, BM
on s, GNM
32 Hans Holbein the Younger, True an a
 46
Enemies of the Gospel Enemies of the Gospel 47

a 'public sinner' wh
on the righ ', 0 bows his head in e 16 . The pagan philosophers Plato and Aristotle here evoke the theme of error and
t th . t, Gods forgiveness i h b r pentance. Unlike the papal"'" truth, for they were deprived of the light of Christian truth, as will be those
0 esimple sinner. As in th s urn ly asked for and freely given, especial!
oppos1ho ns. Th e forgivene 0 er who follow their teaching. Finally, the woodcut presents a contrast between
f woodcuts · th e b tnary · structure suggests po.ar.
man inte . ss o the papal Ch h . the laity who see the true light and the hierarchy who do not, between ordi·
. rvenmg between th . urc IS that of man oratleastai
dlrectly and G o d . True forgiveness ' nary folk and great and powerful officers of the Church."
. fro m G ad when man e pemtent f corr01
Go d Is free ' th at of the papal con rants hi · · Similar themes recur in the titlepage of a pamphlet by Haug Marschalck,
Ch m m pemtence. The forgivene•of
A Mirror for the Blind (ill. 34), published in 1523. A blindfolded monk stand·
poor man . ap proaches God on h' urch must b e b ou gh t. With the fonner)e ing in a pulpit holds up a covered mirror to a bishop and a canon, both of
t ransactiOn h. Is own w·th h
t e latter, he is forced into a ~•
1
expl . . w !Ch he can ill ff ' whom also wear blindfolds. An inscription an the pulpit identifies the
ide mtat10n of spiritual . good a f ord~ Holbem ' s work thus criticises pa:l!, preacher as Scotus, so that he is teaching Scholastic doctrine, the futility of
bib]'
as on pe
nance and forgive
s or tma nc1a · 1 gam.
·
It also reflects Luthenn which is symbolised by the mirror he holds. It is covered so that the onlookers
Old T 1
tea norm · Th e forgiveness ness. of th
Comm on to both themes is the use of a
cannot see anything in it; in any case, they are blindfolded and the whole
I estament, and found wa !' 1; papal Church is compared to that oft\t
business is pointless. Behind them, identifiable by their dress, a peasant and a
n another wood n mg.
the same t h cut, Christ the L. h burgher have turned away from this hopeless situation. They reach up instead
Tbe rise Cec nique to show opp .. •g t of the World {ill. 33), Holbein us> to the radiant figure of Christ as Lord of the world, seated in glory in the
n hrist · OSition betw Cl · h
large cand] ' With nimbus a d h een mst and the papal Churc. clouds. These last two woodcuts take us into the area of doctrine. The teach·
shows th ehold f
er torn which th n t e wound r· ·
. s o his crucifixion, points to a ing of the papal Church is the belief of the pagan and the blind. Any attempt
bull the el symbols of the Evang " scene IS lit. The base of the candlestani to follow it leads only to frustration and error. The true teaching is that of
, ast obscu d e1ISis -. the ]' h .
Testame t . re behind th •on, t e eagle, the angel and tnt
With the n Wnters S e
, t Peter with th k · stand Th t
e s em bears figures of three New
embodied scroll . · Th e candle a d e ey ' St Pau] With · the sword and St Jonh fin Spiegel t>cr l31inbcn.l\"aii D)li'
h•r btn b.tr gcrcbt. Jcb Tt'trb m.titl glot; \'IOZ btn. bocb
rIght a Jam m the New Testament n Istand are t ogether a sign of the War,d
Jl1tl!
rottfcn \'' rb_trg( t'ttb nou·O t&bm tl.tmC v(tbinbtn ronb ,off
b.um. 'Dan t cmcin glo:v "nb ccr folt t'l~trgon/t& rnujP
all in the hp and put it under a b. ht alludes to Matthew 4.15: men do not tilt cc 11t)'ll l"rtb bol ~reb en lcrncn. "Vtfloltcbtll(tL'ffgo:
ouse It . th us el but rtd}t 1U131i(cb"roC btfcr t3picgcl bcr ~l.mbcn.
the Word Ch . · Is erefore a ' on a stand where it gives light 10
the left t~ th nlst calls the attentj syrnbul of the Reformation rediscovery of
canon - the e lght · 0 n the riglht on of a c row d of peasants and burghers on
A. nstotle and papa]
PI h'•erarchy- , a pope . 'a car d.mal, a bishop monksanda
ato . are 1ed Int 0 d ' d
Tb e centra] th 'weanng a Turkish a ark pit by two figures Iabelle
the .light of the erne w of d ar k ness and liand a. sch 0 1ar ' s cap respectively.
ChriSt. Darkness orld. In fleeing th ghr· tIs suggested by Christ's claim to be
effecti ve yin th banct light can als e. Ight . ' th e papal hierarchy flees from
1
e roadsh eet Luth 0l S!gOify e rror and truth signs used very·
er eads the F. . ,
althfulfrom EgyptianDarknest.

33
Hans ll 34 Titlepage to H. Marschalck, Ein Spiegel der Blinden
olbein th
c;: Young
er, Christ the Light of the World, BM (I S23?), BL
 48 Enemies of the Gospel
49
Christ the Word. This opposltwn rs also that betwe
.. . en the hierarchy and the
'
laity between the great and the humb 1e. 19 . the reader berng .

, propaganda process we h ave o bserved so far .mvof1ves iation. A pre·

The
Jed from one level of argument to anot h er bY a . . is continue
cham o assoc d
Reformation tradition of anticlenc . al.rsm an -
d anti rnonas!Jcrsmk b omesasigno f
and strengthened by propaganda such as Beck's. The man nkec are not only
unchristian life. The next step rs · to d ernons t rate. that rna . t s The argument
unchristian, but that they are antichristian, enemres of Chnsthe pope down·
is then applied to all parts of the Church hierarchy, from . the use of
wards. Important m . the bulidmg
. . up o f t h ese co nnotatiOns. the rsBible and the
biblical criteria. Monks are antichristian because they reJeCt hat ambha·
Word. In Behem's allegory of monastJciSrn · · t h' · stated sornew real livilli
lS rs h
Iently, but in other works it is put bluntly: mo s op h to the propa·
nk pose t e ,
Word of God, Christ himself. This imparts a theo!ogrcal dept h risen Chrilt
ganda, and raises the issues to esch a toIog1e . al srgm
. .fitea nee · It ts. t t e Finally, we
in glory whom h the monks and the hierarchy oppose and reJec · arables or
must note t e ' correc!Jon . , or re sh apmg. 1 tea 1 srtuatwns,ksp the resur·
o f b'b!.
metaphors to convey the message. In Christ appears to the Man ge is thus
rection story is retold as a contemporary tale. The propaga le of that
carried by a socio-cultural code most readily recognised bynda the messa
peop
age: the whole range of biblical stories and metaphors. . broadsheet
We can see the uses to Which biblical allusions could be put In a. based on

pra~
entitled Moses' Seat has become a School for Liars (ilL 35). It rs tise and

wha~ever
Matthew 23.2: 'The scribes and pharisees sit on Moses' seat, so but do
observe they tell You, but not what they do, for they preacl passage
not practJse. The text to the left of the illustratiOn grves the Gaspe. h some
through Which the picture is to be read, Matthew 23.4, 13-3S, wrt g the
abbreviations. The text beneath the picture gives a glossary applyrn rate
verses to Cathohc practice. The picture space itself Is fille wr t a
. . d 'th sepa
scenes,_ each With . . rts own caption naming, parallel to the wn al throne.
'tten tex ,
phansarca] Roman practice. Half of the picture is filled with a pap ]·ant
• ue Pope PIaces a bu]] of indulgence on the shoulders of a knee J'gsuppr
"'- In . . dul·

gence~
With the d Words, inscribed in the SCro]] above the throng: 'Receive this rn k
an give us now our prescribed fee.' Beside the supplrant IS a sit
. . . large sac
'tOo
o~toh
o< ,,o, llio '"• """"' Co, llio '"· To llio ""'' '"' ''" oC '"'
other Churchmen, Who lay different burdens on the shoulders of the Jar0 y. a
1

~g ~ommand.
the Pope's immediate right, a bishop loads the heavy books of the law
kn eer Iayman, Who is almost prone from the weight. 'Keep our laws''rste
b' 'You
Ishop s To his right, a canon places the heavy injunctiOn,

'""~",
must fast on the back of a kneeling nobleman Who holds a rosary. . '

To ·"' <on "' <ho ,.,., , ""'"" 'Go '"'""""' ""' •""::;:;
As a srgn of this comrnand, he places the mode] of a church on the shoul
of the man kneeling before him. Further left, a monk commands another Jay-
50 Enemies of the Gospel
Enemies of the Gospel 51

man: 'If you will recover from our power, then have many masses read for and he who does not enter the sheepfold by the proper way is a thief or
you.' Further left, two figures walk away from the papal throne, bowed down robber. Third, there is the contrast between the sheep and the wolf, the mem-
under their burdens. One is a peasant loaded with his offerings, geese, doves, ber of the flock and he who preys upon it.
grain, doubtless representing the tithe. He pleads: 'I came here with large The first two images were used in three different broadsheets during the
offerings; free me of this burden.' Beside him is a wandering friar, with cross
1520s-" The first version, by Hans Brosamer (ill. 36), takes up the theme of
and beads. Unlike the peasant, he is 'a willing fool hardened in knavery'. In the good shepherd and the hireling. In the left foreground, Christ and four
the bottom right-hand corner of the woodcut stands a group of Catholic apostles observe the good shepherd defending the flock, whtch ts bemg
clergy, the pope, a cardinal, a bishop, a canon and a monk. Their caption
attacked by wolves. The hireling flees (see John 10.12), here identified wtth
states: 'Let no one come to us without an offering.' They point to a pile of
the clergy through a priest's beret. On the right, the shepherd approaches a
objects to the left of the group with the words 'It is given unto us to allow or
sheepfold, whose doorkeeper opens for him, while the thief attempts to enter
prohibit everything.' The objects in the pile are labelled by a caption 'the
through the roof. The flock follows the shepherd, but not a stranger. ThiS
weight of burdens', containing a rosary, fish as a sign of fasting and absti-
depiction has a fairly low level of visual polemic, and the good shepherd
nence, a bull of indulgence, the books of canon law, a church signifying, as it
image is used only to identify the hireling with the Catholic priest.
does elsewhere in this woodcut, the obligation to sacrifice, a mendicant's
The second broadsheet appeared in 1524, with woodcut by Hans Sebald
begging-box, and grain and fowl, items of the tithe. A sack of coin, the 'pre-
scribed fee' mentioned by the enthroned pope, completes the pile. Behern and verses by Hans Sachs (ill. 37). The woodcut shows a sheepfold
Wit· h Chnst
· standmg
· In· the doorway, reca u·mg J ohn 10 ·9·· 'I am the door; tf,
This broadsheet has not forgotten to contrast such practices with the way
of the Gospel. In the top right-hand corner the risen Christ prepares to send anyone enters by me he will be saved. and will go in and out and find pasture.
his disciples into this crowd of pharisees. The caption refers to Matthew 10: Anumber of sheep already in the fold peer through the doorway or through a
'Preach the Gospel to all creatures, heal the sick, raise the dead; you received break in the wall. A number of the faithful approach Christ to seek entry· a
no pay, give no pay, take no gold or silver, I send you among wolves.' As peasant and a peasant woman, a scholar m . h.1s talar. Another figure ' tn a
broad hat under the ladder peenng . around the corner, r esembles Charles .V,
propaganda, the work achieves a number of purposes simultaneously. It
.
perhaps mtended to show 'his mdectston
. . . about entermg · th e right door wtth
supplies a Gospel text, and interprets it both in words and pictures as it applies
to the papal Church. Not content with this negative achievement, it further thefaJthful.
· Meanwhile a number of. Cathohc
· clergy, mo nks and a nun attempt
presents a positive norm, again based on a Gospel text. The reader therefore t0 enter by scaling ladders onto the roof and brea k.mg 10· from above . . · A mass-
22
learns the_ Gospel, sees how it is contrary to papal practice and is shown the . . f
pnest, holdmg a chalice places his hand on one o t e ah l dders to JO!ll them.h
true prac!Jce of Christ, namely, the preaching of the Word. The reference is to John· 10.1: 'He who does not enter t he sheepfold by t e
The use of the Bible and biblical imagery is not at all surprising given the door, but climbs in by another way that man ts · at h.!C f an d a robber'; andthto
dommant role of the Bible in the culture of the age, and given that the Refor- John 10.10: 'The thief comes only t~ steal, kill and destroy.' The ange 1 at e
mation was largely a b"bl. al · 1 h
. 1 1c reVIva movement. We can see more dearly t e
particular contribution of d hi · · h
propagan a to t s movement tf we examme t e
use made _over a period of time of one special image, the good shepherd. The
skilful articulation of thiS one sign provided the Reformation with a valuable
weapon in its propaganda armoury. The image of the good shepherd has
many elaborate layers of connotation, arising from its uses in the Old Testa-
ment, and from its New Testament use in John I 0. It was an ideal image for a
pastoral_ people such as the Hebrews, and could be applied with effect in a
predommantly rural society such as sixteenth-century Germany.20
The parable of the good sh h d .
b d ep er con tams three basic images which could
he ar:p~d
1
for propaganda purposes. First, there is the shepherd who lays down
ts e or
Second, there hts.sheep, whereas the hireling flees at the moment of danger.
IS the sh e f ld · h.
wh ose d oor they may e fP Io , m w tch the sheep may shelter and through
sa e Y come and go. Beyond the sheepfold is danger, 36 Hans Brosamer Christ and the Sheepfold,
Schlossmuseum Cob~rg
52 Enemies of the Gospel
Enemies of the Gospel 53

bottom left-hand side of the sheepfold tries to attract two women onto the
right way by reading from a book, probably the Bible. The first woman carries
signs of Catholic devotion, a rosary and a candle, so that it is adherents of the
old belief whom the angel seeks to lead to Christ through the Word. Behind
the first woman, a cleric stoops down, possibly in order to sneak past the
angel and seize the lamb peering out through the hole in the waiL
The antipathy between the papal clergy and Christ is that between harmful
belief and saving belief. lbis is the implication of the two verses John 10.1, 10,
and the contrast is spelled out by Hans Sachs' text, where passages are spoken
by Christ, the angel and the 'godless band'. Christ's words develop the theme
of the door and the sheepfold: Christ is the only way to salvation, through his
taking man's sins upon himself and dying on the cross. The angel calls the
godless band's attention to Christ's words. Why do they blindly reject the
Word in favour of faJse human works and laws which only lead to damnation?
The godJess reply by attacking the 'new heretical teaching', which opposes
good works and destroys divine worship, that has been established for four
hundred years and followed by many folk_
It is thus only in Hans Sachs' text that the doctrinal opposition between
the new belief and the old is brought out fully. In the visual text, the oppo-
sition is largely that between Christ and the papal clergy. But taken as a
whole the broadsheet seeks to align the evangelical movement with the cause
of Christ, and to identify this with opposition to good works. The vital links
in the structure of the argument are the image of the sheepfold, the identifi-
cation of Christ as the door and of the Catholic clergy as thieves and robbers.
The third version of the theme, by the Master MS, tries to convey the same
message without any written text (ill. 38). The sheepfold is here shown as
half barn, half church, making the analogy with the Church very obvious. The
Vlsual references to the text of John 10 are similar. Christ stands in the door-
way, while the clergy attempt to break in from the roof. It is now more
clearly the papal hierarchy which plays this role. The pope himself Sits astnde
the church roof, giving his blessing to two figures climbing in through an
upper Window. Beneath them a cardinal and a bishop try to divert the atten-
tion of a group of believers who have come seeking the sheepfold, among
Whom is a peasant family_ To the left of this group a pilgrim has gone astray,
and he knocks on the wrong door, on the small door of the side bam, where
customarilY swme . or cattle were kept. _
To the left of the doorway a well-dressed man, perhaps a prince, diScusses
the question of good works with two saints, identified by their haloes. Good
W?rks are signified by the prince reaching into his wallet to give alms to the
~nppled beggar squatting before him. Immediately before the door, a kneel·
37 g man With a lamb beside him looks towards Christ, the sheep md•catmg
Hans Sebald Behem Ch - that he is one of the faithful. The figure with Christ in the doorway md•-
• rzst and the Sheepfold, Berlin
cates an article of evangelicaJ belief. He is a layman, but holds a key. the
54 Enemies of the Gospel Enemies of the Gospel 55

symbol of the power to bind and loose, so alluding to the priesthood of all
believers.
In the background left is depicted the theme of Christ the good shepherd,
showing the flock following him alone, 23 In the background right we see the
crucified Christ surrounded by the flock, an allusion to the good shepherd
who lays down his life for his sheep. Behind this, the hireling flees as wolves
ravage the flock. This visualises John 10.11 -15 and stresses Christ's sacrificial
death. If we compare this version with Behem's, it is much more effective
visually in presenting both the antithesis of the old belief to Christ and cer·
tain doctrinal features of the new faith. We may well ask, however, which is
more effective in introducing the reader to Reformation doctrines. The MS
woodcut seems to presuppose some familiarity with Luther's teaching to read
the visual signs. Behem's depiction does not attempt the same doctrinal com·
plexity, but leaves this to Hans Sachs' text. Both are undeniably successful in
establishing one sign, the denotation of the Catholic clergy as the thieves and
robbers of the parable. The question of effective presentation of doctrine we
shall return to in a later chapter.
The distinction between the good and the bad shepherd is taken up in
another woodcut from an unknown Nuremberg master from sometime before
1530 (ill. 39). It depicts the pope and his 'temple servants', who exploit the
flock for their own gain. The sheep are shorn by the three servants on the
right, and slain and flayed by the servant in the foreground right. Meanwhile
the princes of Germany do nothing and pretend not to notice by 'looking
through their fingers', a proverbial expression for rgnonng what rs plamly
obvious. 24 The written text, again from Hans Sachs, relates the scene to the
long passage in Ezekiel 34, where the Lord complains of the shepherds of
Israel who have been feeding themselves, but not their sheep. 'You eat the
fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings, but you
do not feed the sheep' (Ezekiel 34.3). The text is placed 10 the mouth of the
pope who complains that he an d hi s servan t s- cardl.nals , bishops • monks and
priests, - keep a good pasturage where t hey t ry t o keep the sheep in the fold
and away from strange pastures where t h ey rru'ght be poisoned by the Gospel.
If they remain with the pope they are placid and subservient, and can be
milked shorn flayed and butchered. While the pope sits in glory, the worldly
, silent or suffer the ban. True, Luther has revealed papal prac-
princes, must be
tices and turned Germany away from the pope, an d sorne princes and townsd
have taken these matters to heart. But these Iost sh eep wr·n be sought out. an
.
dnven with rods of iron back mto . th e pap a1 fo ld · Sachs ends wrth an
. t o t ru th • from the pope to
admonition in his own voice to turn from Ites
Christ and so to blessedness. sh h d tory is
The third image which could be derived from the good ep er s d .
that of the wolf who preys on the sheep. We h ave a. 1r eady seen thrs use . 10
Luther illustrations where the Cathohc. hrerarc
. hY was po rtrayed as hravemng
. An anonymous woodcut from. t e 1520s
Wolves menacing the' flock of Chnst.
copied this theme while omitting the figure of Lu th er (ill · 40) · It rs unnecess-
t
' all
ary to describe the contents again, except to c a entt !'on
1 to the two goa s

38
Master MS, Christ and the Sheepfuld, GNM
39 The Pope and his Temple Servants
56 Enemies of the Gospel Enemies of the Gospel 57

in the top right-hand corner, who stand for the damned who have been separ- to be discussed in a later chapter, showing the sheep turned into 'hounds'
ated from the sheep. There is an eschatological tone in this reference which who hunt down the wolves - the pope, bishops and cardinals (see ill. 135).
pervades the whole illustration. It is conveyed by the binary structure, by the It was a major task for the adherents of the early evangelical movement to
darkness which clouds the right-hand side and the sunlight which floods the identify their cause not just with Luther and the personal fate of one man. It
left-hand side. The trees on the left are in full bloom, those on the right stand had to be seen to involve matters of cosmic significance. Luther's enemies had
desolate and barren. The sheep in their fold have ample pasture, while the to be seen as the enemies of the Gospel and so of Christ himself. They thus
ground on the darkened side is bare of foliage and strewn with rocks. The two became the proponents of false religion, who might lead those who followed
wolves are placed in the centre of the depiction, trying to carry the sheep
from the left to the right; indeed, we may well say: from the realm of the
saved into that of the damned .
. As in the earlier version which included Luther, this labelled the pope and
h!S followers as spiritual wolves, so creating an image of great signifying
power for VIsual propaganda. It was biting enough to stand alone, detached
from the more elaborate frame of biblical reference, a self-sufficient sign
which reqwred no explanatory text. In the titlepage of a 1539 pamphlet, for
example, It was enough to show a canon and a monk as wolves tearing at a
sheep to evoke the wider connotations (ill. 41) 25 It was used with even
greater effect in a trick-broadsheet in which a widow pleads with a monk for
asSistance (ilL 42). The top section of the sheet folds back to reveal first the
monk ," a wolf devouring a lamb, then to show the monk devouring the
wtdow s house The sam · ·
· e Slgn 1s even used for an 'inverted world' depiction,

4 1 Titlepage of U. Rhegius, Wie man die falschen Propheten

40 The Spiritual Wolves, Dahlem erkennen (A Goldbeck Brunswick !539), UB Gottmgen
.
4 2 The Monk ' ' w·a
and Wolf as Devourers of the 1 ow s
House '
I

UB Bern
 58 Enemies of the Gospel

them to damnation. Titis was essential if the movement was to avoid the
stigma of false belief and heresy. By shifting onto its opponents the associ·
atwns of wrong belief, it was able to occupy the positive ground of saving
4
belief. On the other hand, its delineation of its own belief was often indirect POPULAR CULTURE
and imprecise. In the examples we have seen so far it pointed to Christ, the
Word and the Bible as leading to salvation. The Lutheran movement was right
behef because it was associated with this. It achieved this purpose by drawing
0
~ 3
number of codes familiar to the time - anticlericalism socio-economic 'Popular culture' is an elusive concept, and in this period can be distinguished
gnevance, biblical images, proverbs (in the case of The Monk,as Spoon·seller), only arbitrarily from 'popular belief .1 It can mean common social custom,
even what Victor Turner h all d • · •
.. as c e root paradigms , cultural stereotypes such such as the practice of strangers sharing a common bed in inns.' It csn be
as the oppoSitiOn between darkness and light. 26 To gain a fuller appreciation taken to be mass as opposed to elite culture, the village fair rather than the
of how such codes were used, we must now examine some of them more exclusive dances of the well-to-do-' Seen from another angle, it can be con-
closely. In the next th h t
. ree c ap ers we shall deal first with a group of codes trasted to 'official' culture almost as a sub-culture outside socially controlled
w~ch may be loosely described as 'popular culture', then with another group modes of behaviour• Thi; is the culture of wayfaring folk, journeymen, of
which may be labelled 'popular belief.
the plebeian lower strata, as opposed to the regulated life of those organised
in guilds or corporations. Another approach could define it as superstition, as
a pattern of behaviour dependent on having access to and control over super-
natural power.' The use of skin talken from a hanged man as a talisman
against evil exemplifies this definition. Finally, it might be related to elemen-
tal aspects of material life, to basic biological rhythms such as reproduction,
nourishment and the cycles of nature. 6 Shepherds' calendars and blood-lettmg
tables illustrate this usage. The third and fourth of these definitions merge
With 'popular belief, with attempts to contact or deal with the supernatural.
Popular belief in this sense was often set apart from officially sanctiOned
belief, as unorthodoxy to which the Church either turned a blind eye, or
Which it sought to channel as far as possible away from heterodoxy. Popular
devotion to the saints during the later middle ages was of this nature.'
In dealing with the uses made by propagandists of vanous Signs from
POpular culture, we shall assume that popular culture relates largely to s_ecular
and temporal activities, and popular belief to sacred or religious acliVJUes.
This represents only a convenient means of arranging the material, and the
two will often overlap. However, it corresponds crudely to a d18· t.me tion often
drawn at the end of the middle ages where the attractions of secular popular
culture were seen to threaten good' rehgwn . . an d Ch nstlan
· · belief· This was
exempllfi" d bY a growing suspicion of cam1val . ,estlVJ
c · ·t· t wards the end of
1es o
the fifteenth century s
Such
. .. of ·secular popular culture concentra ted 0 n play ' an activity
suspiCIOn
Which Johann Hlllzmga
. . . human cul ture, almost as an arche-
saw as rooted 10
lyp~ social institution' Huizinga defines play as a voluntary and dis~nterested
iCtivny
• . ' set WJthm . . a limited space and duratwn . so t hat it is distmct . from
.
ordinary 1·che ,· It creates its own order and estab1IS
. hes I·t s own rules • mvolvmg
. .
the tern . At the sa me time ' It " an
· porary suspension of normal social hfe.
liltenseJ . . . hich the players
Y senous activity, involving an element of tenSion m w
59
60 Popular culture
strive to decide an issue and so to end the play. It is in this sense agonistic,
and often antithetical, involving two parties or teams, although the antitheti-
cal element need not always have an element of contest. It is also close to
ritual and magic, for its element of seclusion, and so of secrecy and mystery,
has the same effect of transporting the participants into 'another world'
apart from the mundane. Here we may see one reason why the Church of the
middle ages was often suspicious of play in popular culture it challenged
the Church's claim to control ritual, and so to provide exclusive access to the
supernatural. More frequently, however, the Church accommodated itself to
play, allowing it within a supervised and regulated framework.
The uses of play for a propagandist are numerous. As Erasmus discovered
with the Praise of Folly, it was possible to make an intensely serious point
under the guise of jest. Men were thus brought to see a point of view of which
they might otherwise be unaware. There are risks in this procedure, for the
propagandist must exploit the detachment of play, and divert it into 'deadly
earnestness'. This may alienate the participant, who may see it as the act of a
spoilsport. At its most skilful, propaganda must hover on the fringe between
play and earnestness, and trust that the involvement demanded by the play
draws the participant from one to the other.
A good example can be found in the titlcpage to the pamphlet The Lutheran
10
Strebkatz (ill. 43). The Strebkatz was a popular game in which two oppo-
nents engaged in a tug-of-war by gripping between their teeth two rods, which
were connected by cords. This contraption was itself called the Strebklltz and
the players contended for. its sole possession. In this version, the cords pass
around the contestants' necks_ The original form of the game is depicted in
i2'ic )(utcrtfcb 'litrcbkm;
43 Title page to Die Luterisch Streb katz I p S h ·rr
Worms,l524],BL .coer,
Popular culture 61
the titlepage of a 1522 pamphlet (ill. 44), where two monks contend for the
prize, a wreath held by a watching damsel." In the first instance, the con-
testants are Luther and the pope, who is helped by a crowd of supporters
representing some of Luther's main opponents - Eck, Emser, Cochleus,
Murner, Hochstraten, Lemp and Alfeld." Although the contest seems un·
equal, Luther has dragged the pope to his knees so violently that hiS tiara has
fallen off and his money pun;e has burst. Luther's victory is aided only by the
crucifted Christ, signified by the crucifix he holds aloft in the faces of his
opponents.
This example shows how the transition from play to seriousness may be
achieved without alienating the viewer. The action is transposed from_ the
seclu~on of play not back to the mundane, but to a higher level of senous-
ness. The conte;t of the Strebkatz thus becomes a struggle between true
religion and false. This is signified above all by reversal of the normal ~erms of
contest. It would be expected that the pope and his helpers would easily over-
come the lone figure of Luther, but Luther is aided by a stronger power, that
of Christ, which gives victory in the struggle. Implicitly, then, the contest 18
not Luther versus the pope but the pope versus Christ.
The scene at the top of illustration 44 uses a similar technique, based on
· shown Joustmg
· t 15
another typical contest of the time, the tournament. Ch ns
V:iETb«rn; ..... rr).:aN'~""
\"M
l"'i
..
~ r.~.....
r>r(d-~fi­
ld.'r!t
01 !'I,
Qll Ool L~G/4•.
44 Titlepage to Verhor und Acta vor dem Byscho[[von
Meyssen [J. Grunenberg, Wittenberg, 1522] • BL
 62 Popular culture
63
Popular culture

with the pope, who wears armour and is seated on a war-steed attended by a . . 1 of the artist. In Zwickau in 1525,
footsoldier -devil. Christ rides an ass, and is unarmed except for his cross, b~t hunt scene was not the mventiOn mere~ t t with devils hunting monks
the outcome again is the reverse of what we would expect, for it is the popes students staged a carnival hunt through td e s retehs; this event influenced the
f h . 19 There is no eVI ence a
lance which falls to the ground in defeat. The confrontation between Christ in the same as IOn. f of carnival play which
woodcut, but both clearly had the same source, arms
and the pope is now undisguised, but there is a further level of connotation in
the contest. The pope carries in his left hand a letter hung with seals, signify- suggested anticlerical polemic. _d d died by popular culture
ing a papal bull, the weapon of the pope. It is from this hand that the lance Another form of dignified ritual copte afn palro ulers into their towns
• . h • Th t iumphal entnes o secu ar r
has fallen, connoting that Christ is more powerful than papal condemnations. was the tnump . e r . I opular and carnivalesque
The world of play was not always used by propaganda to elevate the mun- were a familiar part of late-medieval pageantry nllp 20 The triumph was also
F.

. d th T · mphsofVenusor o Y·
dane to high earnestness. As Mikhail Bakhtin has pointed out, another func- forms It appeare as e nu . . d . 't classical associations.
nists who reJOICe m 1 s
tion of play was to reduce the high and the serious to the level of the co!TUC a popular theme among huma • d . t over his opponents in
hlin's expecte VlC ory
and the mundane. This was a form of popular criticism of the mighty, robbmg In celebration of J oh ann Reuc . produced depicting
. h b00 k an illustratiOn was
them of their aura of sanctity. 13 A good example is found in trick-depictions the affair of the J ew!S s, . h ather than to popular
· • · 21 I · nalogytoth1st eme,r
of a cardinal which could be inverted to show a fool (see ill. 134). The Reuchlm s Tnurnph. t was m a .d d . support of the evan·
triumphs, that The Triumph of Truth was proVl e In
tournament, as a high cultural form, was also treated in this fashion. Normally
the preserve of the social elite, the princes and the nobility, it was parodied at gelical movement in 1520 (ill. 46)." . claim of the people.
. t a town to the Joyous ac
a popular14 level in mock tournaments, such as those found in the Nuremberg A triumphal processiOn en ers d their cloaks in the pro-
carniva1. In such forms as the contest between Carnival and Lent, immortal- They have come out with palm branches, an 1ay
ised in Pieter Brueghel's eponymous painting, it became almost an archetypal
feature of popular culture, and was a common feature of the popular festtve
scene in Germany _15
~ ...........
The hunt was another form of high-society play which was both parodied
by popular culture and assimilated into it. Mock hunts became an integral
part of carnival festivities, in forms such as the hunting of old women or
spmsters, or the hunt of the Wild Man 16 These provided ready models .for
artiSts seekmg forms to convey Reformation propaganda. Lucas Cranach pre-
pared a sketch of women hunting clergy, which was probably intended for a
17
propaganda broadsheet. Earlier we mentioned another variant on the hunt-
mg theme, the Swiss broadsheet in which Moses, Peter, Paul and the Evan·
(see ill.hunt
gehsts 135).down the clergy, using the flock of Christ as their 'hunting dogs'

One form of the princely hunt sometimes took place by hunting game into
an enclosure, where it was picked off by the waiting hunters. 18 This form was
p;o:~ed m a broad~eet showing monks, nuns and priests hunted by devils
( · ). They are bemg dnven mto an enclosure at the end of which stands a
hbell-mouth_ where they are devoured. Some attempt to hide in the thicket
ut are hunted out d nk h ·
hau I ed back The po• an · a1rnad w a has . managed to climb the fence Is
concerned g1·. · hi pe bl Is . a rea Y seated .n the J·aws of hell • apparently un·
. ,•act m
m . league
• vmgwith s thessmg
h to a devil kneeling before him · The hunted. are
the cl . . e unters, for the hounds used in the hunt are g~ven
enchal attnbutes of berets and a monk's habit. Monks also run hand in
han d Wit theu concubin M . . .
es. onasticism IS shown to lead to hell but it is the
pope and the clergy who do some of the hellish work for the demons. This

45 Hunting the Clergy, BM

64 Popular culture 65

cession's path, while trumpeters on the walls announce the entry. At the head
of the procession is the Ark of Holy Scripture, carried by patriarchs and
prophets, among whom can be recognised Moses by his horned headdress and
David by his harp. Behind them march the apostles with their attributes,
while Ulrich von Hutten, mounted and clad in armour, leads a group of
prisoners bound by a chain. These include a pope, cardinal, bishop and
several of Luther's opponents Murner, Emser, Lemp, Faber, Wedel and
Hochstraten. 23 At the end of the procession rides Christ as Saviour and Lord
of the world on a cart drawn by the heraldic figures of the four Evangelists.
Two attendants marching at the front of the cart are labelled as Luther and
K.arlstadL A number of martyrs, bearing palms of thanksgiving, close the pro-
cession. Angels hover above Christ, holding a citation from John 14.6: 'I am
the way, the truth and the light.' 24 An angel at the head of the cart bears a
banner proclaiming the Lord of ages to whom all glory should be given, and
identifying the group of prisoners around the pope as the sons of perdition.
The socio-cultural codes in this depiction are curiously hybrid. lt draws in
part on the solemn joyeuse entree of a secular ruler, in part on the classical
triumph of a 'ictorious general, signified by Hutten with his chained prisoners.
However, it also alludes to the Palm Sunday procession in commemoration of
Christ's entry into Jerusalem. Indeed ' the Christ figure seated on the. cart 25
resembles that used in such contemporary expressions of popular devotion.
This shows the difficulty of separating popular culture from popular belief,
even where such an uncompromisingly humanist work as th" ts IS mvo Ive d·
Moreover, it shows that even classical and humanist models need not be
remote from popular cultural forms, but that the one was often grafted onto
the other.
Another combination of popular cultural elements with humanist and
classical models can be seen in a parody attributed to Peter Fletner, directed
agamst one of Luther's leading critics. John Eck. It was customary to have a
tnumphal arch erected to honour the person featured in a triumph. The most
famous example is the triumphal arch planned by Durer and other artists for
MaXImilian I. The Triumphal Arch of John Eck (ill. 47) was doubtless con-
ceiVed as an analogy." According to the accompanying text, Eck was said to
have had such an arch erected for himself to celebrate his victory over Luther
m the Leipzig Debate. It was allegedly set up in St Maurice's church in Ingol-
;:dt. In the version depicted here on the left-hand side of the woodcut, it
lo tured Eck's patron saints, John the Baptist, John the Evangelist and ~t
ac hn Chrysostom, famed for his oratory. The Latin mscnptwn lauds Eck s
hademlc titles and his famous victory over Luther. In the medallwnabove
:xe arch, a cardinal's hat has been set above an empty shield, possrbly tn
LepectatJOn of Eck being made a cardinal for his defence of the papacy tn
lpl!g.
B 'd · · 1 · 10 be the
esr e thiS alleged original is placed a satirical arch, which c a~ms
66 Popular culture Popular culture 67

real version. Eck's a . . pious mother the sorceress, the sister of German folly and the most
patrons a all :propnatton of the three Saints John insults them for his
the h re re Y t e bath, good wine and beautiful women. These a~pear in sweet sister of Philautiae, he took care to be set safely in the ranks
arc as a bathhouse attendant "th b of mortals, alive among the living, and so in folly.
Bacchus with . . 'WI a tu and bundle of leaves; as a fat
excesses- and a ,;me Jhug, ~ecanter and a large loaf, who vomits from his The reference to 'Wine-bishop' is a pun on the German word for a suffragan
'
inscription ab
as 'enh
us oldmg a fie ry arrow, whtch . Cupid tries to seize. The bilhop (Weihbischof). Philautiae is self-love, another form of folly. Auto-
ave t em now read - '(
patrons of Eck , Th . . .
h
s · n t c cause of our faith, these are the nocellarius, as a pun on vicecancellarius, seems to be a humanist neologism
umphal Arch o.f E ek;nscnptiOn above this has been changed from 'The Tri· similar to other words created from nocens, 'hanmful', during the fifteenth
luxury-loving and cff to. read 'D . ect·Icated to Sardanapalus the Epicurean', a century. It is probably intended to mean 'self-abuser' (but without the sexual
e emmate kmg connotations of modern usage). 'Self-depraver' is perhaps an appropriate
by a fool's cap in th h. ld . of As syna. · ·rh e medallion has been filled
excrement This
e s Ie
t"f . ' while above th d. ['
e car ma s hat is a winged heap o
f rendition. The reference to being cut down to size is to the pamphlet Eccius
- mo I IS repeated in a t . h dedollltus, in which Eck has the evil cut out of him by being flayed alive. This
each of the top c f h s eammg eap of excrement placed on
orners
has also been parod· d bo t e . arch
. · The t ext ceIeb rating Eck's achievements links the satire to the theme of the Na"enschneiden, found in the Nuremberg
the text. The text· Ie d y addi!tons or bY sub st'Itutmg . Latin puns for part of carnival, and to the carnivalesque use of 'grotesque realism', which will be
Is ma e to read: discussed in more detail below."
John Eck, master of sacred theology doctor The fonns of play mentioned so far all have associations with carnival, the
. the . h of canon law, most popular form of play during the later middle ages." Carnival is also
sop hIStry, angUis
protonotary apostolic synonymous with fools and foolery, especially in such well-known mani·
proto-fool of the apostate see · · · not vicecancellarius but auto-
festations as the Nuremberg carnival, the Schembartlauf 29 However, carnival
noccllarius ' suffrag·an °f St'Maurice, that is Wine-bishop _ . _returning was celebrated throughout Germany, from Basel and Regensberg in the south,
home by goat from Saxony after overcoming Luther down the Rhine into the Low Countries. and as far north and east as Danzig
Leipzig being cut do wn t o stze,
. to the most and Koenigsberg. 30 .

Participation was not restricted to any single social group, although each
class seems to have celebrated in its distinctive manner. The nobility, the
urban patriciate and well-to-do artisans favoured the private feast and dance,
although there is some evidence that this practice was sometimes followed
among the lower orders. The broader levels of the populace in town and
country took part in public celebrations, such as processions, the fetching of
Shrovetide cakes or various forms of 'trick or treat' (Heischung). Another
foim Which had both public and private character were various 'performances'
~~ch as :arnival plays, sword dances, tournaments or cus~oms such. as t~e
utchers Spring' in Munich. The tournaments could be errunently senous, m
~case of the nobility, or mock tournaments, in the case of the lower urban
sses and the peasantry."
lifeLike play, carnival involved suspension of the norms and rules of ordinary
. 'so that it became a form of release from mundane pressures. In this sense,
~as aki~ to Church feasts, such as the Feast of Fools or the Feast ofrith~
d~· 10 whJch monastic novices, for the rest of the year subjeCt to a gt
· Iphne, could let off steam 32 The agonistic feature of play is also present
In carnival · ·t ponents that
· ' most noticeably in the form of carnival versus I s 0 P ' .
~.those who refused to join in the festivities or criticised its excesses. Thts
"'ms
d to underhe
. the custom of Heischung, where cakes or sweets were . .
47
The Triumphal Arch of John E k f:manded under threat of having some prank played for refusal. The agomsuc
c ' Gotha Schlossrnuseum
nn also appears in various mock contests staged during the festiVIttes.
68 Popular culture Popular culture 69

Besides mock tournaments, and the harassment of unmarried girls and old evangelical propaganda (sec ills. 71, 83, 166 for examples). linked to the fool
women, there was the archetypal confrontation between Carnival and Lent. was the carnival puppet, and fools were often shown carrying fool puppets. A
A German form is attested for 1505 in Zittau, where on Ash Wednesday two popular Nuremberg carrtival float was a 'ship of fools', in which sat a large
figures clad as Pickelherring and Hans Wurst wrestled until the former threw fool surrounded by several of these puppets. 40 The notion of folly combined
the latter into the town fountain, a sign of the victory of fast over feasting." with the mummery of the puppet was seized on eagerly by propagandists.
Another carnival custom was the satirising of those in authority through Pious Christians, wrote Philadelphus Regius in a 1524 pamphlet, would not
parodtes of official ceremonies, such as the election of a scholar-king in be fooled by false papal miracles 'like young children with carnival masks and
Nordhngen in 15 II, or the holding of a carnival court in Pfreim in Bavaria in straw dolls'. Luther has exposed the pope and 'torn from him his mummery
1497
· Elsewhere it took the form of a ritual of rebellion, with a mock storm· mask, with which he has fooled and deceived the whole world' 41 This even
mg of the34 town hall, and deposition of the government in favour of the rule became a popular term of abuse for the Catholic clergy. In Ulm in 1524 a
of folly n.. · h fif
· ~.rmg I e ' teenth century parodies of the clergy were also Catholic preacher who tried to open his sermon with an Ave Maria was
freque t · · - ' 42
. n m carmval celebratlons, especially through dressing up as monks and abused by the angry congregation as a 'carnival puppet' (Fastnachtsbutz).
nuns m carnival proces s>ons. · In co 1ogne m· 1441 a mock reliquary was carne·d
The idea of the carnival puppet or mask as something to deceive only the
~hrough the streets, accompanied by a carnival puppet with an asperger and young or the foolish was taken up in visual propaganda at an early stage. It
anner,_ m mockery of a religious procession." In Frankfurt in 1467 seven· was brilliantly used in the title page of a Swiss pamphlet of 1520, Of the Old
teen Clllzens were pun·sh 1 d f . .
· 1503 e or parodymg a rehgious procession. In Augsburg and New God, Belief and Doctrine (ill. 48). 43 On the left-hand side, the pope
m several youth · d d
"th 'bb s carne around a goat lying on a cushion bedecke is depicted as a carnival puppet held aloft in a procession by hls supporters,
W1 n ons which w b · d 36
' . as aptJse by a mock priest. Such parodies were some of whom are identified by name as Aristotle, Ambrosius Catennas,
usu all Y regarded W>th g d h
. oo umour by authority, although the more blatant Johann Faber, Eck and Sylvester Prierias: the last four were all opponents of
cases of Lrreverence we "sh d
howeve th re pum e ·Towards the end of the fifteenth century, Luther. The pope is crowned with his tiara by two devils, as are the cardmal
r' ere was an mcrease - h.b. . .
monk • d , m pro 1 ttlons of carnival mummers weanng and the canon to the left. The pope holds the key symbolising his office, and
s an nuns costume 0 f k .
masks du nng · carmv . a! _37 s, moe ery of Church customs and of weanng usurped symbols of Christ as judge, a bundle of swords and a rod. He repre·
It was natural that s f sents the 'new belief, while the 'old belief is depicted on the right. The~e we
these po u1 f upporters 0 the new evangelical faith should turn to fmd the Trinity, represented by the Father, the dove and the risen Chnst. A
P ar orms of mocke Th . .
erence towards f . h ry. ey provtded ready-made forms of urev· scroll links the Father to Christ, reading: 'This is my beloved son.' The up·
a at! now held to b 1
carniva1 was d e use ess. Over twenty instances where holders of this old, true belief are the four Evangelists, indicated by then
use to attack th 0 ld b 1' .
the first two de d f e e 1ef can be traced in Germany dunng symbolic figures, St Paul with the sword and book, and Moses and Aaron to
ca es o the Refo t" 38 .
many variations w 'd rma >on. The theme of carnival and tiS the right and left of Christ respectively. In the bottom corner right stands
as 1 ea1 for prop d h
1520 pamphlet E . d agan a, and was taken up eagerly. T e luther, holding a scroll which reads: 'One God and Father of all'.
him by bein k' ccruds edolatus, describing how Eck had the evil cut out of
g s mne altve all d d t . Although crudely drawn this illustration is very skilful in its layers of
in which a fool' c 11 . ' u e 0 a carmval scene, the Na"enschneiden, sion;fic t' . ' . · · d' tely establishes.
s .aM Y lS cut ~" a ton. The bmary, antithellcal constructiOn tmme '"
success by Thomas . out. of "'-'~u.
Thi s had been used with great
the fund . 'a!
urner m h1s E · . amental oppostllon between true be 1te an " s · The new god IS
. . f d e
from Strassburg wa th xorclsm of Fools. Mumer, a Franciscan identified: the pope; for the old God any inscription is superfluous. 1he
the Reformatio~ an'd he only able Catholic polemicist of the early years of
' e used the th · . antithesis is established both horizontally and vertically in the graphic com·
Lutheran Fool of 1522 h erne agam m his tract On the Great position. On the right everything flows down from the Father, through the
Lu t h eran fool.J9 • w ere the folly of L u ther •s h eres1es
· IS· cut out o f t h e
Holy SPU:ll ' Christ thence out throu gh Ihe fi>gur es of the New
· · to the risen
The image of the fool was used f Testament to Luther on the fri~ge On the left, the pope is propped up pre·
and we have already me t· d requently by Reformation propaganda, Carious) f · . · ·fi d by the tilt
whi ch was to become ve
n lone some e I h
xamp es: t e cardinal-fool depiction, Y rom below by human strength precanousness Sign> 10
. .
monastiCism with foll . ry popular as a mot'f
I
f · of
or medals or the equatiOn
~!the stool on which he sits. The devils 'holding the papal tiara may alsob~
u Y m works like Th M ' ntnbuting to the attempt to hold him aloft. The figures in the compoS1tl~f
".ank and the Ass The s· il . e onk a,, Spoon-seller or Beck's The atnphfy th the left Slgm Y
th · · 1m anty of fool' h ese oppositions further The human figures on f
e substitution of one forth h s cap and monastic cowl suggested
e ot er creat"
'
·
mg a Sign which recurs throughout ~man teaching; the non-human ;he devils, signify the diabolical nature!~
e papacy. On the right, the divi~e figures and the assembly representlllg e
70 Popular culture
Popular culture 71
Old and New Testaments combine to associate Luther with right belief. But what was only implied in the last example, the papal journey to hell (ill.
the most important connotation is imparted by the puppet. Whereas the
49) 4 ' In the Nuremberg carnival tableaux were pulled through the streets in
belief of Luther is that in a true and living God, that of the 'new' papal belief
horse-<lrawn carriages. Here such a carriage is filled with Catholic clergy,
is in something of straw and rags, well indicated by the raggedy, floppy legs
pulled by horses with the pope as postillion. The tree in the centre of the
of the papal doll. It is a diabolical belief, connoted by the doll's right leg,
carriage is a carnival tree, which was stripped of branches and left with only
which has a webbed foot, a sign of the Devil. A sixteenth-century reader
a tuft of greenery at the top. It is also reminiscent of a May branch, and could
would above all have recalled the other important feature of the carnival
allude to the amorous activity of the clergy. It is here hung with three letters
puppet. At the end of the carnival it was burned and interred, a symbolic
of indulgence, and below them is a larger letter with crossed papal keys
committal to hell, which was thus to be the fate of the 'new god'. 44
indicating a papal bull. This recalls that each Nuremberg carnival was given a
Greater use was made of the carnival theme in a broadsheet which depicts
motif which recurred on the floats. The floats were often in the form of
ships, and this carriage resembles a ship with its mast and 'sail'. The ship of

mont a.Ittn uno uii fools was a popular theme for floats, and this carriage-load of clergy is per-
haps another 'ship offools'. 46
The Nuremberg tableaux were accompanied by runners who played pranks
en Q5ou; QS'lauben, Dnb l.rr~~ on the crowd, pulled them along and beat them with tufted branches'' Here
this role is carried out by devils, harassing monks beside the carnage: One
devil carries a bishop in a basket on his back, and there is another Similar
figure in the left background. They recall a Nuremberg carnival figure, a devil
canying an old woman to hell in his basket. 48 The devil dragging a monk by
hi! cowl in the foreground may refer to another carnival custom, the hunting
of old women by devils•• The Nuremberg carnival ended with the tableaux
entering a specially constructed set, the 'hell', which was demohshed or
destroyed by fire.so It is into exactly such a 'hell', constructed m grand
classical style, that the pope leads his wagon. The 'hell' is overflowing wlth
every kind of cleric, including popes, and is already being consumed by fire,
laid by monks and devils who stoke it with firewood. Despite the many
unmistakable references to' the Nuremberg carnival, there was no correspond·
ing historical event unlike the Zwickau 'parson hunt'. The Nuremberg govern-
ment Was too cautlous about creating public disturbance or giving .offence to
Cath 0 lic authorities such as the emperor to allow sue h an explic1t p1ece . of
propaganda. In 1522 ' it prohibited performance
' of a carnival Pay · wh1eh
1 10
the pope appeared, and forbade the use of a 'hell , wh"tc h rru"ght cause offence
to the cl ergy. However in the procession of I 523 on e of the runners worebl a
costume made of bulls ~f indulgence. This was evidently considered allowa . e
sociaJ comment, for there was a history of oppoSl·t·•on to indulgences . 10
Nuremb erg Since
. h
the fifteenth century, and t ere a h d been an mdulgence
ParodYinthecarnival of 1516." d
,_More open attacks on the clergy or on religious belief were frowne tupo~
"'e Nu b gl . 1525 into the sa me
ca . rem erg Council inquired disapprovin Y 10 hibited
''Ying of a crucifix during carnival and carnival itself was pro d-
48 enttrely during the years 1525-38 '' On its revival in 1539, it was •mmeth,.
Titlepage to Vom a/ten und nuen Gott (1521), GNM ltely b · · directed agamst e
l.uth anned again by the Council. A satirical float was. whom the
eran preacher Andreas Osiander, a sober, puntamcal man
 Popular culture 73
72

townsfolk clearly held responsible for restrictions on their festive life. In a

'hell' in the form of a ship of fools, Osiander was shown surrounded by fools
and devils, holding a gaming board (ill. 50). He complained to the Council,
which had the carnival organisers arrested and the carnival prohibited. In
retaliation a crowd stormed Osiander's house~ so driving home the message of
the float that Osiander should go to hell with his strictures on popular games
and sports. 53
The incident reveals the wide gap between popular and official attitudes
towards play and game that is important to an understanding of Reformation
propaganda. Playful mockery of established institutions was allowed within
certain limits. Once it stepped beyond the bounds of propriety, as defmed by
the authorities, the playing had to stop. This applied no less to propaganda
which used popular forms, such as play and carnival, to make its points. It
was prohibited when it became too biting. Nuremberg again provides useful
examples. The Council kept a careful watch over the production of the print·
ing press, and intervened against anything it considered offensive or indiscreet.
In 1521 it prohibited the sale of Luther's portrait with the dove, in 1523 it
forbade the sale of satirical songs, abusive literature and broadsheets featuring
Luther and the pope. There were similar prohibitions for 1524, which were

SO Hell from 1539 Schembart in Nureml!erg, GNM

 74 Popular culture
Popular culture 75
also applied to visual d .
propagan a - portra!ls of Luther broadsheets murals heraldic device. The associations of the others were not self-chosen, but
and even painted cloths U t 1555 , ,
· P o such bans were repeated in eight different applied to them by their Reformation opponents. Eck, shown holding an
years, all directed again t · 1
s VlSUa propaganda for the Reformation. 54 In one of acorn, is a sow nuzzling in the dirt after his food, and living like a pig. Lemp,
the first towns to mve all · t h
e.~ egiance o t e evangelical movement this sensitivity defeated in the Zurich disputation of 1523, is shown as a snapping cur,
to strong attacks on th 0 ld b I' f . '
e e te IS remarkable. It attests that broadsheet quarrelsomely wrangling over the bone he is holding'' These are natural
propaganda certainly was g · 1 .
f dd enume Y popular - m the sense that it met a con· polemical applications of animal characteristics to human beings, similar to
mue emand in the face of official disapproval.
Carmval and carnivalesqu · . the animal metaphors found in medieval literature. Such theriomor]Jhism is
Ref ormatwn. . e occasiOns were to provide extensive material tor close to personification of non-human and inanimate beings. Animal and
VISUal prop d
. agan a, c1early because of their essentially visual human are amalgamated by attributing to personified animals the quality
na t ure. Besides the carnival .
followed th gh processwn and puppet, the carnival theme can be which the persons in question are thought to share with them. 57 A lion is
rou several othe · h.
The animal k . r stgn.s w Ich have less obvious links to carnival. synonymous with savagery, so to depict Leo X as a lion is to represent him
mas s gJven to Luth ' . . .
out further ex 1 t. . er s opponents, whtch were mentwned wtth· as savage, an association made easier by his name. Similarly, the randiness of
p ana Ion m seve al d · al
puppets or mask ss W r . woo cuts above, are similar to carmv the goat was attributed to Emser, the text given to him making an ironic play
50
from the early 1 ~ he c~n examtne them in detail through a broadsheet
a tribune (ill Sl) Als,ls owmg five figures arrayed before a colonnade, as if on
on these connotations: 'Ah, virgin goat, you stink so bad of chastity in your
long beard.'
· · are named b · · ·
centre is Pope Le 0 X th Y mscnptwns at the top. The lion in the Other representations of Luther's opponents as animals seem less inspired.
ethcat Thoma
s Mumer, t h e goat Jerome Emser, the
'
sow John Eck and the do .. . In The Lutheran Strebkatz Johann Cochleus is shown with a snail perched on
The allusions in this g ~ Tubmgen theologian Jacob Lemp. his head, but little use was made of the animal attributes of the snail, sloth or
taken on the form of th:oo c~t are not just to carnival masks. Murner had sexuality. Cochleus can mean either snail or spoon and, following this latter
name: Mumer __ miaow cat ,himself, as an onomatopoeic parody of his own
'a cats cry · Emser's · 1 h' reading, Cochleus is also carrying a spoon over his shoulder in the Strebkatz.
name, which means go t d . amma mask also comes from IS ~ochstraten is attended by rats, in allusion to an arbitrary name given him as
a ' an Emser htmself included a leaping goat on his
the rat king'. In The Triumph of Truth he even appears as a rat wean~g a
crown. Less enigmatic is the squirrel in The Lutheran Strebkatz. This 15 a
theriomorphic depiction of Eucharius Henner, whose sermons were regarded
;"'th contempt, so that he could be dismissed, like the squirrel, as being of
att]e significance."
Animal representation could have many ]ayers of connotation, including,
~we shall see shortly, the demonic. 59 We can see some of these in a deptc!lon
0
the pope as an ass attempting to play the bagpipe (see ill. 60).1! draws on
the brutishness and stupidity of the ass which made it synonymous wtth
folly, and the Reformation made good u;e of the term as a polemical catch·
cry m abusive labels such as 'cloister-ass' or 'choir-ass' directed agamst
monks ·60 It a1 so recalls a popular proverb, ,the ass on th e 1yre' • signifying. the
;asted effort of someone attempting a task for which they are not sUited.
ehe bagpipe may have been used here instead of the lyre as a sign of debauch·
1)', m Its role as a phallic symbol." We are also reminded of the aruma!
~egories in such highly popular works as Aesop's Fables and Reinhard th:
'·. The characters of Reinhard the fox and lsengrim the wolf doubtles
PrOVJded models for anticlerical satires showing a fox or wolf in clencal or
monastic
h habIt,
· preachmg
. to geese or hens. It was a frequen t rna tif in medteval
.
~ llrch sculpture, and the fox preaching to the geese appeared on the Mmstedr
Eb Strassb urg, and on churches in Braunschweig, · w·15 mar • Lubeck an
storf"
· It Was not surprising that the mottf was t ak en over by the evan·
.
 76 Popular culture
Popular culture 77
gelical movement, as in the . .
1524 found a dra . f case of a pnest m Annaberg in Saxony, who in The fox, with its reputation for slyness, was probably used for propaganda
A 1522 hlwtng o a fox tn pnest's habit in his pulpit•' more frequently than the wolf. But more interesting is the use made of a
pamp et The W0 If'8 s
was used for Re' ' . ong, shows how early the animal allegory popular proverb about stroking a fax's brush as a synonym for flattery. 66 The
wrmatwn propag d Th .
to recognise spiritual an a. e work mstructs its readers on how t1tlepage of a 1524 pamphlet applied it to Erasmus, showing him stroking a
1
parable discussed in w~ ves, and although the contents draw on the biblical fox-brush crowned with a triple tiara (ill. 54). This signifies his unwillingness
allegory and the p cb apter 2 • the title page alludes to medieval animal to break with the papacy, and his desire rather to praise it in the hope of gain.
rover s which . .
and cardinals catchin . grew out of It (Ill. 52). 64 It shows the pope The fox-brush was also a synonym for hypocrisy, and there are such over·
net or through m . glgeese, either through strings of beads by means of a tones in the attack on Erasmus. It is most clearly used to allude to hypocrisy
USIC. t alludes t 0 · '
by Heinrich von Kett b h a proverb mentioned in a 1523 pamphlet in the titlepage of a 1538 pamphlet (ill. 55), the German translation of the
the geese in the w edn' ac 'where he says that priests 'preach as the wolf to report of the cardinals commissioned by Paul III in 1537 to study means of
.
cunmng. 6 s
OO S , that IS th
'
k ·
ey see to ensnare them by tncks an
d
reforming the Church. It was printed in Wittenberg, with glosses from Luther
By the later part of the . attacking the inadequacy of the proposed reforms 67 The illustration here
stock part of the p t SIXteenth century, these animal allegories were a shows three cardinals busily sweeping aut a church with brooms made from
ro estant propag d .
woo d cut portraying D k . an a repertoire. A good example IS a fox-brushes, a sign of their purely hypocritical attempts at reform. A moral-
whi h · u e Chnstoph of W . . ·
c gives a prayer . ki urttemberg as a Chnst1an pnnce. ising broadsheet using the fox-brush as a sign of flattery and hypocrisy was
surround him (ill 5J) .
tnvo ng God' .
s protectwn against the beasts whi
'ch
· 8IX are de · t d Printed in Augsburg during the 1530s, with a woadcot by Erhard Schoen,
d1.f,•erent member · of th . pic e , each with the indicative sign of a
ca eli a! e Cathohc hie h . while a more elaborate polemical version in a l\'uremberg broadsheet ofl 54 5,
r n , a fox a bish rare Y: a dragon is the pope, a lion a The Fox-brush Shop, showed the attempts of the Catholic Church to Win and
lain All op, a bear an abb .
· are beasts off . ot, a tiger a canon and a rabbit a chap· hold its adherents by flattery and hypocrisy." ..
eroc1ty ex f .
ness, for the written t ' cept or the rabbit which is a sign of Ian·
b fi ext speak 0 f ' Most of the examples examined sa far have depended on the satmcal
ene Ice and enjoy its f . . s the chaplain's willingness to sit in a adaptation of popular cultural forms, or were popular satires an high cultural
ruits Without effort.
forms. Such satire was an integral part of carnival and popular festlvals,

(!Jcrr:cti1brid)k~:r .1 l'(llr c•":rr:•_ :~·- -1.,, ·· '' -'~>:

r.i\1 U:r-•fr:1~?\N:7~~f.in \:r,(•:'"':':(•; }~
l~orii ft~:r ·lr•r~ 1 :~1 ~' ~-.;
• ~C\·~, 1 -~,\~~v .~,,rf·;•ri ·; -,
; ii \•c~~ :r:~rr ;r::!'J ~~-' ~ ':1
oa·o:rc~ro;r~•tb•l-
_.,....,,.,.._,.....-.-- .,.::~-~ -~--- -~----..-

52
Titlepage to D ' Dahlem
53 Duke Christoff of Wurttemberg and t h e pap al Beasts,Belial
as Woi[[gesan [ .
g S. Gnmm, Augsburg, 15221, BL .
54 T 1tlepage hi . .
to Gesprech buc em, vo n ey·nem Bawern,
Erasmo Ruterodam (I 524)
 78 Popular cuilure
Popular culture 79

which allowed a limited freedom for mockery and abuse within carefully con- gallows in this fashion." Often it was sufficient just to allude to hanging to
trolled limits. There was usually an ambivalence about such festive occasions effect the insult. In February 1521 a depiction of Luther and Hutten as com-
which took much of the sting out of the mockery. But abuse could be used rades in arms, doubtless one of those discussed in chapter 2, was nailed to the
not in thls good-humoured way, but as a more serious form of insult, where public gallows in Schlettstadt m Alsace, and the town had to apologise to
feeling ran high and tempers were short. A common form of serious insult Hutten for the affront." Such forms of msult probably had the same force as
among the German nobility was the Scheltbrief or 'letter of insult', frequent ·)uming in effigy, and may have been related to popular forms of image-
enough from the end of the fifteenth century for it to constitute an entire magic.73
genre. In an age when legal redress of grievance was difficult to obtain, such A direct adaptation of the Schandbild for Reformation polemic is found in
letters proVIded an outlet for strong resentments and feelings of injustice. 74
a work issued by Luther himself in 1545. the Depiction of the Papacy. This
They were usually accompanied by insulting depictions (Schandbilder) which small work is a picture book, with nine illustrations and brief text; here we
heaped abuse and libel on the enemy••
shall examine its fifth sheet (ill. 57), where the pope and three cardinals are
A common form of insult in the age was association with hanging particu- being executed by hangmg. Two cardinals have their hats dangling from their
larly effective when di e t d · h '
. r c e agatnst t ose with claims to social respect of pre· bodies, that of the third is tied to the gallows-beam on which he hangs. Devils
tenswns to high powe f h .
r, or angmg was the mode of execution for the base carry off the souls of the expiring victims, while the executioner nails their
and low-born In Italy a ·t 1 h . .
. · n ua angmg was used by many towns to insult then tongues, which have been cut off, to the gallows as a sign of their cnmmal
enemies, and towns under att k ld · · · f
.
th 01r ac wou ceremomously hang a depletiOn o falsehoods. The Latin text at the top of the sheet announces that this is a
attackers from th all "'
th e w s. German Scheltbriefe often depicted those fitting reward for the satanical pope and his cardinals.
ey attacked suffering d ath b h · · I
men! 1 56en e y angmg, d!smemberment or disembowe- The German text at the bottom proclaims, in imitation of a Sche/tbrief: 'If
• ). In 1521 Aleander was depicted hanging upside down from the
the pope and cardinals were to be punished here on earth, their slanders

~tttfiD(tig_ u~n· bet would deserve what you see rightly depicted here." The form 'as you see

IRircbch;cine ausrcbus etlicbcr DIGNA MERCE!i PA.PAE SATANlSSIMI [.'t

IUblntl/ ~~ll Pllu[o bts n11mrns CARDIN ALJ VMS V OR VM.
tllilttn; A.ntt·_ ftinm brfdb sr(ctJrttbr~ttn
""D PbtrMtD1orw.
tOittinrr Porrrbt J:),.(J),ur. ft'utb.

,,
:t
tl
. Chryfippi.
-'""''""'"'·quad l1tr'Um did., mtncirir,
:!
55 Titlepagc to Ratschkz -
(I 538), GNM g · · · ems ausschus etlicher Cardinal
56 Scheltbrief of Johann von . .
of Hesse, 2 l'\ovember 1438 S Lowe~ stem to Landgrave Ludwig I
- ' tadtarchrv Frankfurt
 80 Popular culture
Popular culture 81
depicted here' is a standard d ..
t' ren rtron of the Schandhild. 75 Moreover the pope, from the other another famous victim of death by hanging, Judas."'
Igures who have been so . I d. ,
Pope Paul Ill C d" al JUst Y !Spatched can be identified individually as The essential theme of the Schandbi/d, the deserved death by hanging, is
Waldburg 76 'T~r tm Albert of Brandenburg and Cardinal Otto Truchsess oi thus established. The device within the coat of arms develops the theme. It
only nam-es th s oo :onforms to the style of the Schandbild, which not shows a hand clutching money-bags, that is, 'Judas' purse', from which pro-
e cnme ror whi h th .
also identifies them b na c ose attacked deserve hanging, but whiCh trude bishops' mitres, in analogy to the thirty pieces of silver for which Judas
Coats of arm h d y me and depicts them through their heraldic device. betrayed Christ. Above the clutching hand is a cardinal's hat, and in the neck
s a a parl!cular t 0 t lik · ·
middle ages · h em- e Sigmficance for men of the later of the central bag are royal crowns. The verses accompanying the illustration
, smce t ey were d d . . -
signified. Indeed th regar e as a substitute for the person they are in dialogue form, and state that the pope has abused the power of the
• ey were even seen · . .
sonality itself thin as a pictonal expresSion of the per- keys, the Church's power to bind and loose. Through annates and palliums,
, some g put to go 0 d 0 I . n
The ~chandbz"ld . d P em1cal use in Eck's coat of arms. he has filled his purse with mitres and abbots' hats. He has even tried to pur-
•
56 hung the c
er ""'
f upon thi s f eature and 1TI
. some cases, as in illustratwn
.
' oa 1 o arms along81.d th
chase royal crowns, and wishes to make his cardinals everywhere supreme. He
hanging. e e person depicted as suffering death by has, therefore, played the part of Judas, and so he is condemned to 'Judas'
These features of the S h - reward'. Henceforth, he shall bear Judas' purse in his arms.
sheet showing th c andbzld are developed with some skill in a broad- Another variation of the Schandbild used a less refined form of insult. It
e papa1 coat of
Luther (ill. 58) Th arms, another work which originated from showed the seal of the person under attack being pressed into a heap of excre-
· e arms have an h ld' .
mounted by a papal t· H era IC shield with two crossed keys sur- ment or into a sow's behind. The seal was a sign of personal commitment and
lara. owever th k
the power of the p h ' e eys have been shattered, a sign that good faith, like our present-day use of a signature. Such depictions thus
ope as been b k F
ro en. rom the stock of one key hangs the expressed the injured party's conviction of the faithlessness of his opponent:
his seal was worth no more than dung, fit only for an animal's behind." The
Depiction of the Papacy took up this feature in another of its pages to parody
the papal arms (ill. 59). The crossed papal keys have been replaced by a pal!
of Jemmies, which Germans called 'thieves' keys'. 80 The papal tiara which
should be above the shield has been inverted, and a German mercenary
soldier, a Landsknecht, defecates into it." Two others adjust their dress after
having done the same. The Latin title states satirically: 'The pope is adored
as an earthly god.' The German inscription comments that the pope has
treated the kingdom of Christ as the pope's crown is treated here: But do n~t
despair, it continues, for God has promised comfort through his spmt. A refe -
ence to Apocalypse 18 shows what that comfort is to be: the proclamation
that Babylon has been overthrown, that is, that the downfall of the papacy 15
at hand.
In th'15 work the written text adds two varymg · messages to the visual .
. age. he German text provides a quaSI-doctnn a! comm entary·' the .Latm
mess T . . .
.title ' however, captures the woodcut's mtentwn. . more cos 1 ely·· it is an !!OniC
. .
mve ·
rsiOn, a reduction of the sublime to the mundane. Th'15 15 · hat M1khaii
w
Bakbtin has called the 'material bodily principle' in popular culture. The
?umerous references to basic human functions such as eating, defecatlOn or
Interc ourse have the effect he argues of reductng . thee1eva t ed to the humble,
of hu-a· . ' ' . " Such 'grotesque
"lll!aling it so that it loses its ability to insp!!e awe. . . f
r~aJism', as Bakhtin calls it is found throughout the pages ofthe De~Itt:n o
58 r e Papacy. The seventh ,;oodcut which appeared as half of a dou e efp!C·
Satire on the p lion w·th ' d' d't apal plans ora
apa/ Anns Ge 1 the ass on the bagpipe (ill. 60), used it to 1scre 1 P
nera1 Council of the Church.
 82 Popular culture Popular culture 83

The pope rides on a sow, carrying a spiral of steaming excrement on his
open palm. The Latin text at the top says that this is how the pope holds a
council in Germany. The German text states that the sow must allow itself to
be ridden and spurred from both sides. It wants a council, and in reply
receives the excrement. There are two allusions here. Luther often spoke of
Germany as the 'papal sow', to be force-fed with papal lies for the pope's sole
gain. There was also a popular riddle in circulation, and which appeared in
print in 1541: 'How do you ride a sow so that it does not bite? - Put dung
on your hand, and when the sow smells it, it will chase it and not bite the
rider' The message, then, was that Germany may well seek a council from the
pope, but all it could expect was lies and deceit 83 This sheet uses Bakhtin's
'material bodily principle', but lacks the ironic inversions of the Landsknecht
scene. It was used far more effectively in the third sheet of the series (ill. 61).
Two peasants bare their bottoms and fart at the pope, who is holding out
a papal bull of condemnation, identified as such by the fire and brimstone it
15
enuttmg. The emission of the bull is thus answered by the emission of wind,
This was itself a popular gesture signifying contempt.
84
The Latin text
develops another thought suggested by the visual text: 'Here are lips fas~ioned
for the feet of the pope.' This refers to the custom of ktssmg the pope s foot
in reverence as a sign of subjection, and constitutes another inversion through
use of grotesque realism. Lips here become the cheeks of the buttocks, so
that the imparted meaning is that the pope's foot, far from bemg worthy to
kiss, is fit only to fart upon, or even worse. A solemn custom has been reduced
to the level of the crudely material, rendering it risible. Such attacks on papal
customs could serve another purpose for Reformation propagandists, namely,
to act as a profession of disbelief in its power and efficacy. To flaunt objects,
persons and actions held to represent the divine order of things in such a
manner could vividly demonstrate that they were without supernatural
power'' The material bodily principle was thus used to desacraltse the
numinous and withdraw it from the realm of religious veneration. It found
expressiOn. m . polem1cal. .
literature m . . t.wns to use indulgences for lava·
. mJunc
tory paper. 86

a ptece of grotesque realism worthy of Rabelais The German text comments: We have evidence that such debasement of th e oppon ents of the Refor·d
~
0 .
• pope, do not scare us with your ban and he not such an angry man, or mation was applied literally. One pamphlet of 1528 told how Luther ha
else we'll oppose you and show you a Belvedere.' 'Belvedere' here means 10 been sent a copy of a work written by two Le tpzt . ·g Magister ' attackmg tn
ff
present a fair view, a satirical reference to showing the bottom to the pope. . .
scurrilous terms his marriage to Kathenna von 8 ora. This work was taken o
., -'I,·:JRATY\~
~
r~r,. nrv<. TJ Tll<Jr-:v~.
PAPA DAT CONClL.lVM IN PA,A DOCTOR TJI!OLOGIAE
:-< t.JERMANlA. IT NAOUTE:Ill'JDEr·
~ ~
;;:

.
::<
,>!!.
~

..
:;
c

''·
~

"'
(:~

~
~
~
. . . ~
' ~
~-'rir I)•U Don mel) .{'l)rtftl gcr~~n;
Mil\ llhllii)IC l)antlclt ~me :{{'r~n.
~ •1f(ltv )r ;ll.ICI(cltrgfpnc(ltl'ler gcift;•,~"
~Cl)CIHfl \1Cirl'ft Cilli ~.l'tr ljli.'Dcr6 ~cifr.
I II!.
!man. t.!,ur~cr ~.
59
The Pope is Adored as an Earthly God ( 1545), BL
 Popular culture 85
84 Popular culture

to the lavatory by various of Luther's supporters in Wittenberg, 'illustrated'
there, and then returned to its authors. 81 There was, however, another
dimension to this scatological humour than just an intention to demean and
humiliate. In the popular mind it would also have served to link the pope
and his followers with the demonic. In popular superstition the privy was the
haunt of demons and evil spirits. 88 It is thus no surprise that the themes of
defecation and the demonic should be linked in Reformation propaganda.
Thomas Murner had tried to invoke the connection at the end of On the
Great Lutheran Fool, where Luther is thrown down the privy, a popular
ntual form of consigning him to hell (see ill. I 90).
From the Lutheran side this was far exceeded in coarseness by an attack
on one of Luther's most vehement opponents, Johann Cochleus (ill. 62). The
theme is to show Cochleus as an instrument of the Devil as the 'Devil's
arsehole' as it is expressed in the text. The Devil, wearing ~asses and with
spoons in his ears, a play on Cochleus' name, defecates into Cochleus' open
mouth, while a fool- devil holds aloft a mirror to enable him to adjust his
a!m. Cochleus is so full of devil's excrement, the written text tells us, that he
15 likely to burst, so that he in turn excretes this as his books against Luther.
stench associated with the Devil. Undeterred by this, a monk, a priest and a
prince eagerly receive and devour Cochleus' works, while a circle of rejoicing
demons dance around them. These have animal heads, in particular those of
animals associated with the demonic - a dog, a swine and an ass. We have
already seen such demons in the carnival parody of the pope's ride to hell (ill.
49). They add another dimension to the animal masks in which Luther's
opponents are depicted in the Illustrations discussed above (see ills. 43, 46
and 51)- these are linked to the demonic.
The associations of defecation and demons are used to greater effect in a
broadsheet showing The Origins of the Monks (ill. 63). This also takes up the
gallows theme, invoking the popular superstition about places of execution
being also the haunt of evil spirits. Three devils perch on a gallows, one of
whom is relieving himself by excreting a vast pile of monks onto the ground
below." The German verses expound this theme with a narrative. Once upon
a time the Devil began to suffer severe abdominal pains 'as if he were preg-

In the bottom left-hand corner, observers of the scene turn away in disgust.
This is not just a reference to the excrement, but also to the unbearable

lfiC OSCVLA P-F.DI B\'S PAPAl'

fiGVNTV R.

·-
.,...................
,....,.,.,..... ,
~... .,..,. . . . _~., ... R,,

61 The Papal Belvedere ( 1545), BL 62 Satire on Johann Cochleus, Dahlem

~----------------------------....,
86 Popular culture
nant'. Climbing onto a gallows, he began to strain until he had relieved him-
self of the cause of his discomfort. Observing the result, he remarked that tt
was no wonder he had suffered so much. Such crafty and cunning knaves
were worse than he and all his fellows. Should they all gather in his kingdom,
he would be expelled himself. They should, therefore, not be allowed all to
remain together. So saying, the Devil saw to it that the 'loose, tonsured
monkish knaves' were scattered throughout the world. This provides an extra
dimension lacking in the visual text, but there is another theme in the wood-
cut which the written text does not take up, namely, that the monks are also
gallows-knaves, those born beneath the gallows who will end upon it. The
broadsheet thus draws together three separate themes from popular culture:
defecation, superstitions about the demonic and insults. It is thus simul-
taneously a Schandbi/d similar to those in Sche/tbriefe, and a means of equat-
mg monks vvith evil spirits through popular superstition.
. The theme of birth is also found in the Depiction of the Papacy, in its
nmth sheet showing the birth of the pope (ill. 64). Here the link with def-
ecatmn ts wealker and a natural birth is intended. The woodcut shows a grin-
nmg and pregnant she-devil giving birth to the pope and a crowd of cardinals.
Th!S d~aboltcal origin is further emphasised by showing the pope being
ORTVS F.T ORlGO PAPA£.
I and crushed up. From these he malkes an image into which he breathes bfe
'
63 The Origin -h
64 s 0 1 t e Monks Be 1" BL
The Ori · . , rm,
g<n of the Pope (1545), BL
Popular culture 87
suckled, nursed and toddled by the three Furies. These are identified by the
German text as Megaera, the Fury of hatred, Alecto, the Fury of matricide
and patricide, and Tisiphone, the Fury of insanity and demonic possession."'
The fox-brush of hypocrisy is also much in evidence, lying beside the cradle
by the suckling pope, and being used by a Fury to keep the flies off as the
pope is rocked in his cradle. The use of the classical Eumenides would seem
to weaken the popular cultural appeal of this sheet. However, to the reader
unfamiliar with the three names mentioned in the text, the three old hags
would appear to be witches, so preserving the diabolical allusions, even if the
subtleties of the association with the Furies were lost.
The notion of the diabolical origins of the papacy supplies the theme for
another sheet, which was probably a companion piece to The Origins of the
Monks (see ill. 63). This is called The Origin of the Antichrist (ilL 65) and
shows two devils crushing up monks and priests in a huge tun, while two
others flying through the air bring more to add to the number. In the back-
ground, two flying devils fetch another tun full of monks, who have been at
least partly crushed, judging from the juice pouring from the tun. Beside the
large tun, two devils breathe life into a fat, naked and bacchic pope. The
scenes depicted are explained by the German text. The Devil has become
mcensed at Christ gathering about him a Church in which the Word of God"
preached. Thus he has had a great host of monks, clergy and nuns gathered
65 The Origin of the Ann·christ, Dahlem, BL
88 Popular culture Popular culture 89

through black magic. This figure he calls the Antichrist, because he will ~ore elaborate in its use of these themes than any of the last few examples
always oppose preaching of the Word of God. This creature is made in the is a woodcut broadsheet showing the clergy feasting in the jaws of a grotesque
image of his creator, cruel and wild; and as soon as he is conscious of his she-devil (ill. 6 7). The demon is a giant figure, half bird, half beast, seated on
strength, he decides himself to become prince of hell. Here then, concludes a large letter with numerous affixed seals, signifying no doubt a papal bull.
the text, is the Antichrist: he is nothing more than a monster formed out of Its left leg is injured, for it supports itself with a crutch, and a sling and
monks and priests. bandages are bound around the leg, which is resting in a bucket. The asperger
This sheet provides us with an excellent example of the complementary in the bucket signifies that it is a vessel for holy water. In its outstretched
nature of written and visual text, much of the latter being only partly explic· hand it holds a collection box, and this and the remnants of a cowl draped
able without the former. The numerous elements on which it draws show over its head show that it is intended to represent a monl<. The large-scale
clearly the blurring of the boundary between popular culture and popular composition is thus a satire on indulgences and monks as their purveyors.
belief. It relies on allusions to demonic creation, similar to the other examples These are revealed once again as diabolical.
we have just discussed, but adds the theme of black magic. It could be seen at The small-scale detail is more complex. In the gaping mouth of the demon
one level as a magical parody of the communion, alluding to popular a group of clergy are seated around a table - a monk, a friar, two nuns and a
devotronal representations of Christ in the winepress, which will be discussed canon all preparing to eat. Lolling at their feet are two demons, while above
m the next chapter. However, it is also full of allusions to carnival and carni· them a number of demons on the head of the giant devil prepare food. The
valesque satire. First there is the theme of the pope as a monster formed in a frrst course is already being handed down to a nun, who reaches up from
process akrn to winemaking. The creation of the monster recalls the carnival inside the demon's ear. The other demons fly through the air, one propelled
puppet of illustration 48, the bacchic theme the excessive imbibing associated by breaking wind, bringing a canon and a pope to the feast. The pope carries
wrth carnival . - The theme o f crushing 1s · a stmilar
· · ·
carmvalesque motl"f to the his key of office, and a letter of indudgence or a papal bull. The cooking scene
one. of . drsmemberment
. th t · f d . . .
a IS oun m medieval eptcs or m Rabela1s. . · or The is elaborate. A large tree-branch, which seems to be growing from the neck of
dtaboltcalrtself is also a carmv · a1 mot1·f, most carmvalesque
. . ..
feshVIttes featunng · the giant devil, serves to suspend the food over the fire. Titere is a large pot,
mummers clad in devil -cost umes w h o were allowed to run loose m · the stree ts,
thus creating
. the atm asp h ere a f unbndled · freedom associated with carmva · I" ·
Seen
. .. m this
. light • the d eptc IOn as as much in common with popular fes·
· t" h
lrVltres _as rthas with the more serious theme of the Antichrist.
.
.Srmilar
. rn its linkin g o f carmvalesque · and demonic motifs rn · antr-pap
· al
satrre
. IS a Low-German D h
or utc watercolour dating possibly from the mr · ·d
century (ill 66 ) Th
1srxteenth
d f · ·
.
e devils are shown carrying-off to hell a wagon·
oa
. o souls ' some of h
w om are monks. The souls signified by therr · sma11 er
stze, are struggli t 0 ' .
. ng escape from a large tun into which a devil is tryrng to
cram them wrth th "d 0 f ' d
"d e ar a mallet. The other devil with bird's beak an
Ciaws n es as p08till" •
'. ron astride a goat, a diabolical animal linked to witch·
era f t m popular su
pope h"
r .
. pers rtron. The cart itself is formed by the body oft e
h
1
arm 'r rs eghs actmg as the shafts in which the goat is yoked. The outstretched
s orm t e axles of th · ·· b
the pa a1 k e cart, while the wheels are locked into posrtron Y
P eys held gr d ·
formed b aspe rn the papal fist. The spokes of the wheels are
and a gre~s~emtbfers of the Catholic hierarchy' bishops, cardinals and monks,
rear This b" po or oilmg the w h ee 1s h angs down from the pope , s trara · at the
· rzarre cart recall . . ill"100
resembles a pop f s a carmval wagon, and the bird-beaked post
1
the tun is si il u ar orm of carnival mask .., The devil crushing the souls into
.
Slngle image ·t .
m ar to the monk- hi .
crus ng theme of the previOUS woodcut.
As a
• 1 rmparts brill· 1 ll th
the papacy whi h . . rant Y the message that one will go to he W1
' c rs a vehicle of the Devil. 66 The Papal Cart, GI\M
 Popular culture 91
90 Popular culture

and strung out alongside it what appear to be human limbs. On a branch to

the right sausages have been left to smoke, while a demon on the left prepares

' ' '.._,..." ... more sausages and spitted carcasses for the fire. The latter seem suspiciously
human in shape. At the very top of the branch are seated two devils who pro-
vide music for the feast with pipe and drums, while the entire feasting scene is

I illuminated by the rays from the fire.

This gruesome feast is especially difficult to interpret. The feasting and dis-
memberment themes are rabelaislan, and another version of the carnivalesque
i theme of crushing. This cooking-pot recalls the title of a pamphlet from

l' around 1535, A r'resh Compot from the Pope (ill. 68), which speaks of the
stew cooked up by the pope and his allies for German consumption. The illus-
I tration shows the pope stirring the pot with tlhe aid of the emperor, two
princes and a bishop. A cardinal behind the pope cooks up what appear to be
cabbages in a pot in a fireplace, while a fool on tlhe left-hand side places
another cabbage in the large tun from a basket beside it. The devil uses a
bellows to fan the flames of the cardinal's pot, while another flying devil
blows with a bellows into tlhe ear of the pope. The com pot is thus the devil's
stew. 94
The cannibalism motif is suggestive of a similar monkish feast, in Pam phil us

~n fn[c~cr (folit
b!gc ' 11om Gapft vn'o ~en
f(inm rttma1m \lbtr {rurfCV~
C.JJnOt ringrfa.~t¥n•
:l& •fl••n ffiumb•Sr~b ~rm f<trl
!C~ tr.r! IIIJn~rl! b1< b~i1 ;i1 rbilr,
:f," i<l'lrr [u!f grw ~ ~ab (fiJ t ~ d,ir
tTirr riF~ITrrn lr[l Li1 rr grr:" 4lr/
~.lr or<lc"l' ~ r[i tr ~<;Jr r/
tlr~~wo!J<(.;lq'n l'~jjdJr!/
6:1)Jr 1n;r ~:(» rnn JJ•jmr t!oU
~s;~'"~"f"j'll'"li 'fl'•r '~"~up q)cn '!I'd[,

. ' •

68 Title page tq Fin frischer Combisst vom Papst

67 Devourers of the Dead in the Jaws of Hell, Dahlem IJ. Cammerlander, Strassburg, 1535 I, BL
92 Popular culture
Gengenbach's play Devourers of the Dead, published in 1522, which has
certain features of a carnival play 95 Its argument is that the pope and the
clergy, by their exploitation of indulgences, requiems and absolutions, 'feast
on the dead', that is, exploit the dead for gain. The titlepage of this work (ill.
69) has a passing similarity with our woodcut, including the devil with the
fiddle who provides music for the feast. In the text this devil comments:
These are my chosen children
On earth I have no better friends
Thus I play on the fiddle
So they can pass the time
In dancing, piping or in song
And spring with me to hell.
If any parallel between the two works is accepted as plausible, we can link
the large-scale with the small-scale scene. Here once again we have a carni·
valesque devouring of the dead, signifying the exploitation of indulgences,
absolutions and papal remissions.
The feast of the devourers of the dead in the jaws of hell leads to a similar
example from Luther's Depiction of the Papacy (ill. 70). This shows the pope
enthroned in a giant hell-mouth, surrounded by demons. Some of these have
heads recalling the animal masks given to Luther's opponents. There is one,
half squmel, half goat, another with a pig's head, a third is half goat and
several others have goat's horns. One winged demon in the top left-hand
69
Titlepage toP. Gengenbach, Die Todten fresser (1522), BL
Popular cui ture 93
corner is clad as a monk with a prominent tonsure. The carnivalesque over-
tones are made more explicit hy alluding to the figure of the fool. The devil
with the pig's head wears a fool's cap, while the pope has the ears of an ass.
Two demons hover above the pope and are about to crown him with a triple
tiara, which has a spiral of excrement for its tip. The ass's ears, of course,
refer to the depiction of the pope as an ass playing the bagpipes, the spiral of
excrement to the other depictions in the series based on this theme.
The main task of the demons in the depiction here is to prop up the papal
throne, which is breaking apart and collapsing into the jaws of hell. The
movement intended here is ambiguous, for it is not clear whether the pope
has just arisen from hell or is about to sink into it. 96 This is in many ways
inconsequential. What is signified above all is that the pope is suspended in
the hell-mouth about to be crowned, hut at his moment of triumph his
throne collapses beneath him. It is this state of suspension to which the text
calls attention. The German text states: 'Here sits the pope in the name of all
devils; now it is plain that he is the true Antichrist who is foretold in the
Scripture.' The Latin title at the top gives the biblical proof by referrmg to
2 Thessalonians 2, and removes any doubt about the relevance of whether the
pope is arising or falling. What is depicted is the 'Kingdom of Satan and the
REGSVM S.~TANAE ET PAPAf.
2. THESS. 2.
II.
70 The Pope Enthroned in the Jaws of Hell ( 1545 ), BL
94 Popular culture

Pope'. This points forward to our next chapter, where the role of popular
belief in propaganda will be discussed. It is worth noting here, however, that
the naming of the pope as Antichrist is not suggested or confirmed by the
5
visual text. The visual signs are rather those of popular culture, evoking POPULAR BELIEF
carnival, the grotesque and the demonic.
What is the importance for Reformation propaganda of these elements
that we designated as derived from popular culture? We have propaganda
drawing on several popular cultural codes: play and game, carnival, popular Popular belief may, in general, be regarded as the belief held by the mass of
festival forms, insults, theriomorphism, grotesque realism and the demonic. the people, by contrast to that held by the religious elite who make up the
These were all systems of signs readily recognisable to the common folk of clerical hierarchy of the Church, the 'professional men of religion'. But this
the time. The creators of the propaganda worked largely by taking these distinction should not be too rigidly drawn. The rural parson or the wander-
familiar signs and reassembling them as 'images in syntagma' which could ing friar, for example, may well have shared the belief of the masses, or at
then be read by the unlettered as easily as we recognise the visual allusions of least have adopted soma of their attitudes, rather than those officially
television commercials today. 97 However new the message they were present- approved by the Church. This concept of popular belief is expressed clearly
ing, the codes were age-old and customary. If Reformation popular propa· enough in the medieval saint and miracle cults. Such a defmition, however,
ganda was highly successful, it was because it relied so heavily on what was tells us only where popular belief is to be found, but little about its nature.
taken for granted in popular culture. One of the most persistent dilemmas in the study of religion is whether to
What of the content of the message? In the context of popular culture it approach it as a set of held beliefs or as a set of practices. The dilemma is the
possessed no great theological profundity. It merely amplified the traditional more acute in the case of popular belief, where the ideas behind religious
message of popular festivals. Those in positions of authority who laid clairr. practices arc rarely formulated clearly and concisely in any formal conceptual
to respect, reverence and awe because of the dignity of their person or office structure. Often they appear only through the practices, yet they also g~ve
could be reduced, by popular satire or parody, to the level of the meanest 01 meaning to them. The two must be studied as inextricably linked-'
humblest objects - puppets, carnival fools, dung. To the extent that thlS A useful means of doing so is to look at popular devotion and the images
'material bodily principle' reflects forms of popular resistance to the ruling thmugh which it was expressed. It was less formalised than ecclestasttcal
ritual d · · t ht"ch the individual
ehtes of society, the Reformation tried to present itself in the form of a . , an certamly less regulated. It was the pomt a w . . . 1
popular movement. To the extent that popular festivals provided a 'safe!) behever invoked and paid homage to the sacred. It embodred tn practtca
valve', a form of expression allowed by authority to neutralise popular form the way in which the indi;idual conceived of the more elaborate and
passtons, It represented a channelling of any broader discontent the Retor· systematised structure of belief to which he or she gave allegiance. ~othmg
matt on might have aroused 98 Reformation propaganda directed itself against exemplifies this point better than the late-medieval statues of the Vtrgtn,
Which . . . . Th tt mpted to visualise for
the papal Church and its officers, not against authority, rule or socialehtes. opened up to reveal the Tnmty mstde. ey a e d
the 0 d. . . . I doing they crosse
Above all, 11 was the papacy which was to be deprived of its ability to msptre r mary believer the doctrine of the mcarnauon. n so •
awe or. demand reverence. 1n thts . sense, the propaganda sought to ac h"eve the the )" h f Christ not of the
1 tne of Christian orthodoxy (Mary was the mot er 0 '
oppostte to that 0 f b u ild"tng up chansma
. Trinit ·) b . . b 1. uld have been too
around the figure of Lu th er that we ) • ut It is doubtful whether the ptous e 1ever wo
have seen
. abov
. e. It sou t to destroy the charisma of the papacy and the
gh concerned about this-' . . f
0
Catholic hterarchy • wh e th er chansma
. .
of office or chansma o f per sons. In . Because it is less structured and more fluid, popular devotion iS a kind d
Il!nmaJ "bl t new suggestrons an
counterpoint to the development of Luther's image his opponents and those . area where beliefs are volatile and susceptt e 0 . h
tnfluen . J I ll t. pressions of fat! at
. vange1"leal movement were provided with an
of the e ' anti-charismatiC
· una
· ge : ces. t also involves individual and co ec tve ex . "d 1
Thts process occu d . th . . h ter not b) the sam . . . This made tt an ' ea
. rre , rn e examples we have seen m this c ap ' .. e ttme, best exemplified in the pilgnmage. . Th"
arousmg religio . d tivlues iliound f · · nd behavwur. ts
us emotiOns, but by invoking the secular beliefs an ac or propaganda that sought to influence opmron a
0 f the people I thi ate the chapt il . d re drawn upon to
re1· . f · n s age, however, it is always difficult to separ th·s . er w 1 examine how popular belief and tis co es we . 1
1gious rom the I d wing ' dr~ern· . 11 h popular devotwna
secu ar, and tl-.ere is a danger of distortion by ra · mate the Reformation message and especta Y ow
bo un d ary too ri<ridl T fi . popu 1ar unagery was resh d h" d '
b li f "' y. 0 ill out our picture we must now examme 0 ape tot lS en . . s the religious
e e and the use m d 0 f . ne of the most common forms of communal devot1Dn wa
a e It by propagandists.
95
96 PopulllT belief
procession, which occurred with such regularity throughout the year that it
was almost a defining characteristic of the sixteenth-century small com-
munity. Besides the processions on major feasts, such as Corpus Christi or
Whitsun, there were those of the church fairs held even in small villages. At
times of exceptional distress ·-war, plague or famine- the community held a
religious procession to beseech the intervention of God to alleviate their
suffering. Such occasions were an expression of communal solidarity, and a
manifestation of social and spiritual relations within the community. 4 For
evangelical belief, these events epitomised Catholicism in its most superstitious
form, the notion that God's intervention was at the disposal of man's behest.
It was the more offensive because processions involved the display of the
Sacrament, the chanting of litanies invoking the saints and display of the
Church hierarchy.
It is hardly surprising that the religious procession should have featured in
evangelical propaganda. It was essentially Catholic and preeminently visual:
an mesistible theme for the propaganda broadsheet. The best example is a
satirical church fair procession by' Peter fl{)tm:r (ill. 71 ). A procession of
mo~s, nuns and priests passes across an open space between two churches, a
remmder that religious processions usually wound their way from church to
church, making a halt for prayer at each in turn. This procession seems to
have little of religion in it: it is bacchic and carnivalcsque. It is led by a swine
and a very fat priest swinging an incense burner. Behind him a curate sprinkles
holy water from a kettle held by a woman in secular clothes, doubtless a
~nest's concubine. Here any resemblance to a religious procession ceases. Next
m the parade come two friars, vomiting copiously and behind them two
canons d · k' f f d.
nn mg rom huge beer steins, thus indicating the cause 0 lS·
comfort of the two ahead.
.........=,..............
.............. ............
. . '."'..-;.",.....,.,,.....
71 Peter FI"
II ..
•n.n....--~
....,. ,
........... PAM- .... ,.._...,. . ..
otner, Sal!rrca! Procession ( l535'!)
'
Popular belief 97
The central place in the procession is taken up by a very fat abbot being
borne on a litter. He is preceded by two child monks, bearing candleholders
m whtch the flame is represented by spirals of excrement. The abbot is
carried by two fools, the foremost of whom has a profusely running nose.
Behind the litter, a nun carries a spit packed with sausages, behind her are
two nuns with hay-forks. from which hang cod-pieces in parody of the
banners carried in religious processions and making a jibe at clerical sexual
licence. 5 Two other nuns sing from a gaming-board instead of from a hymn
book, and yet another holds aloft a large roast goose. The procession is closed
by two nuns, one holding a wine decanter and glass, the other a swaddled
baby, a nun's illegitimate child.
This procession is a brilliant carnivalesque parody of the immoral excesses
of the clergy. The abbot is so stuffed with goose and wine, the printed text
tells us, that he could scarcely be carried by two horses, much less by the
straining fools. He seems to be a similar figure to the abbot on the ice, dis·
cussed in chapter 3 (see ill. 26). The work thus embodies the anticlencalism
through which evangelical propaganda sought to discredit the opponents of
the Gospel. To this end it uses themes drawn from popular culture: excessiVe
· and dnnkmg,
earmg . . .
folly, grotesque reahsm an d carmva· 1 parody. As w1th
I . fi
ear Ier examples of carnival themes, we can m IS one d h. t · al parallels to such
Wor ks o f propaganda. In Naumburg a comic . processiOn
· of monks ' nuns and
the cIencal · hierarchy
. was held through the streets d unng · carnival in. 1525. A
sun· il ar satire
· on a religious procession was held m · Mun .. ster in carmvall532, .
whil e another occurred· in a small village outsi'd e m· 1534 · An elaborate. senes
0f
carmval· satires on Catholic belief was held m · Hild e sh Clrn
· in 1543, mclud· .
ing a mock procession in which figures dresse d as manks sang a mock Kyne
from gaming-boards 6
I
98 Popular belief
So far the example highlights the influence of popular culture, and the
church fair was certainly as much an occasion for communal feasting and
festivity as it was a religious event. However, several features direct our atten-
tion to elements of popular belief in this pair of woodcuts. First, there is the
parody of the religious objects themselves, by which hymn books, candle·
holders, banners and possibly the relics often carried in processions have been
replaced by objects of gluttony. There is also the retention of the incense and
holy water at the beginning of the procession, thus associating these items
with the irreligious. Second, there is an association of folly with vice, a
familiar theme of popular moralists of the later middle ages, such as Brant
and Geiler von Kaisersberg. Folly here is no longer laughable stupidity or
mere brutishness: it is sinful excess. Later, we shall see how this is developed
into association with the diabolical.
If we turn from the visual to the written text we flnd that the religious
theme is more fully stressed. Come to the church fair, the first verse entreats,
where indulgences are earned by monastic life. One can be 'holily impure',
but if one honours the abbot one's sins can be swept away. This refers to one
of the great religious attractions of church fairs, the indulgences attached to
the performance of the religious activities which took place there. The second
verse alludes to the excessive bulk of the abbot but the third returns to the
theme of Catholic belief. Written as a parody of'a litany, it invokes the clergy
as fhose who give an example of religious life. They are the light of the world,
the Nazarenes, true followers of Christ. The 'light of the world' reference
alludes to the spirals of excrement in the candleholders echoing a quip made
~y Luther in 1524, that the pope sits in Christ's pla~e in the church and
illuminates as dung in a lantern' 7 Thanks to papal bulls the verse concludes,
allthi. ' h
ngs are free to the clergy, and they carry around holiness. The fourt
verse also refers to the visual text. The monks sing so that 'the notes rise up in
72 Peter l·lotne r, 'h " . of Christ (l53)'!J
_
1 ' e .'Vt'\1' Passwn
Popular belief 99
our fhroats', exemplified no doubt by the two vomiting monks, but this can
be relieved with holy water and other things mixed with indulgences.
Perhaps the most important feature of this procession is what is omitted,
for it includes only clergy. The only lay figure is the concubine holding the
holy-water kettle. The religious procession is fhus identified with both vice
and with the clergy. The layman can stand outside it as an uninvolved critic.
Religious practice can be condemned without embarrassment to the lay
reader, who is encouraged to transfer his antipathy to the clergy onto the
religious forms associated with them. Such satirical depictions of public
religious practice encouraged the layman to distance himself from it.
The use of private religious devotion for polemical ends was a ~ore
~ensitive matter, for it had to avoid including the reader in its condemnations.
A ~econd pair of woodcuts b.y FlOtner. The Ne1r Pauion of Chnsl. attempted
this by drawing on popular devotion to the stations of the cross intended as a
pious aid to meditation on the suffering of Christ (ill 72). Reading from left
to right, Christ is brought before the high priest, who is depicted as a bishop
through his mitre. This was common enough in late-medieval depictions of
the high priest in the stations or the Passion, and probably has no polemtcal
·
mtent. Christ's captors however are monks, and m · successiVe· scenes across
the two woodcuts he Is . ' scourged' crowne d wtt· h th orns an d then crucified by
th e monks as the pope m . each case
' looks on. 1n th e crow ning with thorns,
Ch ns· t ·ts mocked by a canon who with outstretc hed arms offers him a beer
mug. 1n the last scene, Christ' nses . m . glory from h'1S tom b • despite the guard
of monks placed there to prevent it. This is clearly copied from the woodcuht
,.,_ ·
~..-rmst appears to the Monks discussed above see ·
( ill 31)· By contrast. wll.
the sa r·tncal
· church fair this work uses a form of devo r·10 n to make tts pmnt
With out call'mg the devotional
' . f mto
·
practice ttsel ques t'IO n· Indeed ' as we .shall
see Jater, the crucit1xion was one motif taken over b}. p ro tes tant devotiOnal
100 Popular belief 101

iconography and reshaped to suit its own emphases. Stress on the suffering of
Christ was an element common to Catholic and evangelical belief. To depict
monks and the pope as the tormentor< of Christ thus invoked popular religious
emotions to condemn the clergy and the Church hierarchy.
A similar use of private devotion is found in a depiction showing the pope
as the bad thief crucified beside Christ (ill. 73). This draws on late-medieval
interest in the good and bad thieves, the companions of Christ's suffering,
often taken as types of repentance and stubborn unrepcntance 8 Depicting
the pope as the bad thief thus stresses his refusal to recognise Christ as true
God even in the throes of death. So much may be read from the visual text,
but the printed text provides a more elaborate exposition. The good thief, it
tells us, is the evangelical movement, for it preaches Christ crucified and
recognises him as head and Lord. By this means each man can recognise the
true Church, which is not that of the Jews, the Turks or the Papists, but only
of 'those whom one now calls the new Christians, the Lutherans'. These alone
preach the Gospel, penance and forgiveness of sins in the name of Christ. The
-
~
c'
bad thief is he who recognises not Christ, but the high priest of the Jews for
his head. The bad thief stands for those who persecute the Gospel and reject
ol
~~
~E
Christ with stubborn and unrepentant hearts. Their Church is that of the e!
Antichrist and the Devil. This written text concludes with a version of the ~!
~
0!
popular song 0 poor Judas, driving home the theme of rejection of Christ.'
Several features of the depiction are explained by the written text. The
=·~~
"'
soul of the good thief will join Christ in paradise, illustrated by the angel "''
eli
receiving a small child from the mouth of the expiring good thief. The bad ... ,•
jS't
thiefs soul will be torn from his mouth by the Devil, also depicted in the .. I
0

fl
woodcut' Using another biblical simile, the text identifies the papal Church
With the barren figtree, which will be t:ut down and cast into eternal fire. This
is represented visually by merging this motif with the cross on which the pope -~f )':
is hanging. A demon is cutting it down, while flames lick around its foot, in !;;! z.
anticipation of its fate. ~e C)
(i:o! ~
Another devotional image which enjoyed great popularity immediately ~t ~
before the Reformation was the image of the instruments of Christ's Passwn. 'C~
'&) .,"'f.,
Thi_s is 3 recurrent theme in pious meditation, depicted in small pictures
which served as aids to private devotion. 11 Devotion to the instruments of the ......
~i,
"'"""
Passion ~ecame itself a means of gaining remission of punishment for sin 9~
"
through Indulgences. One such depiction from the fifteenth century (ill. 74) S{ ,:"-
P~Omises _3 massive amount of indulgences to be gained by honouring the ~l "
picture With a Pater Noster: fourteen dozen years, plus six years granted by "''
5t
~1
"',_.
each of forty-three popes, and forty days granted by each of forty bishops.
Another familiar form in which these 'arms of Christ' were depicted was the '"'
~

mass ~f St Gregory, commemorating his vision while celebrating mass of the

suffenng Christ. 12
A work known as Th s
e even-headed Papal Beast is based on sue
h depic·
-----------------------~-----..

102 Popular belief Popular belief 103

tions (ill. 75). It appeared both as a single broadsheet about the size of a small
folio and as a book illustration, as well as being published with a text from
Hans Sachs in 1543. 13 It shows the arms of Christ: the instruments of the
Passion, the cross, the nails, the scourges and the crown of thorns grouped at
the head of the cross, and the spear and sponge on a staff placed on the cross-
beam. In parody of the inscription INRI commonly found on the crucifix, an
indulgence letter has been attached to the cross, with the motto: 'For cash a
sack of indulgences'. The altar usually found in the devotional pictures has
been replaced by a cash chest, the repository of proceeds from the sale of
indulgences. It was thus an altar of mammon, and upon it, in the place
usually taken by Christ, is seated a seven-headed monster, flanked by flags
bearing the papal arms, crossed keys and a papal tiara. The arms of Christ are
thus mocked by the arms of the pope. The seven heads of the monster are
those of a pope, two cardinals, two hishops and two monks. From beneath
the cash chest appears a demon, and to underline the message, the artist has
placed the title Regnum diaholi, the kingdom of the Devil, at the sides of the
chest.
The printed text equates the monster with the beast of the Apocalypse,
although the description does not quite match the illustration. Just like the
papal beast, the apocalyptic beast has seven unequal heads. All are crowned,
signifying the tonsures of the clergy; it has ten horns, signifying spiritual
power: it bears a blasphemous name, which the text interprets as the seductive

Jfass of"St Gregory (1476)

75 The Seven-headed Papal Beast
 104 Popular belief Popular belief 105

tongue of the papacy. The beast is like a Jeopard, that is, the tyranny of papal visual expressions of the role of the Bible in the revival of evangelical belief,
rule. It has feet like a bear's, to tread the Gospel underfoot. It has a lion's and appeared in six editions 16 Christ shakes the grain of the Word into the
mouth, which signifies the papal gullet never full with all that its great maw hopper of the mill. The grain is St Paul with the sword, and the symbols of
swallows - indulgences, palliums, annates, offerings, foundations, the pro- the four Evangelists, all signifying the New Testament. Production of the
ceeds of the ban. The beast bears on one of its heads a mortal wound, which flour is supervised by Erasmus, a reference to his 15 I 6 edition of the New
signifies the deadly harm done to the papacy by Luther and his writings. Testament, which was decisive in the revival of biblical theology. The flour
The written text thus applies the description of the beast of the Apoca- emerges as Faith, Hope, Charity and the Church, indicated by small scrolls
lypse to the papacy, although the visual text makes the same point more which Erasmus is ladling into his sack. The flour sack itself, over which hovers
succinctly. By reworking the theme of the arms of Christ, it shows the papal the protective dove of the Holy Spirit, bears a symbol which is probably a
beast usurping the place of Christ in the popular devotional image. This millwheel surmounted by a cross. Just as a miller is identified by the sign on
message is spelt out by the reference to 2 Thessalonians 2.4 in the woodcut's his sacks, so one can recognise the produce of the divine mill as that made
caption, which speaks of the son of perdition who takes over the rightful seat from the grain of divine wisdom.
of God in God's own temple. Through this alone, woodcut and caption, the Behind Erasmus is Luther, who has baked the flour into the bread of the
papacy rs rdentified as the Antichrist. The popular devotional image has not Bible and is shown trying to distribute it to the Catholic clergy, helped by a
been at.tacked, but a perversion of it has been used to show the papacy as a peasant. The pope, a cardinal, a bishop and a monk reject it in horror, whrle a
perversiOn of Christianity. 14 diabolical bird-dragon above them screeches 'Ban 1 ban 1', in allusion to papal
This reworking of familiar devotional imagery became a frequent device in condemnation of Luther. Behind Luther is Karsthans, the figure of the
Protestant propaganda, capable of indefinite extension. Two examples illus· 'evangelical peasant', wearing a sword and wielding a flail in defence of the
trat~ this pra~tice: the mill and the ship images. A common means of repre- Gospel. From the heavens, Christ as Lord of the world, identified by hrs
sentmg graphrcally the doctrine of transubstantiation was The Host Mil/. This cruciform halo, looks down, adding a note of eschatological urgency to the
showe_d Christ placed in the hopper of a grain mill and communion wafers confrontation occurring below. A Catholic devotional image, simphfymg and
emergmg from the tray. Together with an associated depiction Christ in the popularising a central doctrine, has here become a means of expressmg an
l~'mep~es~, i~ served to visualise an extremely abstract doctrin~. 15 It wa; in evangelical message. .
~lrect rmrtatron of this image that the illustration The Divine Mill was used as The mill as an image of refining or rejuvenating was also a secular u~age,
he lLtiepage of a Swrss pamphlet of 1520 (ill. 76). It was one of the earliest often used satirically . 17 Iconographically, it was close to the fountarn of
youth, in which old men or women are turned out young, and closer strll to
the oven in which fools are newly baked. They are all images of transform·
ation'' In a sheet from Hieronymus Resch, dating from the 155 0s, the
satirical possibilities of the mill image are merged with the devotional rmage
of the divine mill (ill. 77). Entitled The Spiritual Mill of Fools, rt develops thde
notio 0 that folly· · b o1·rca 1· It depicts a large
is close to sin, vice and the dra . . an
sp · · · sacks of spmtua1
actous mill, at which arrive a stream of carriers bnngmg .
fool th . h h er and emerge mto
s, e Catholic clergy. These are shaken mto t e opp h
the t gb , d The dross from t e
rou , refined' into their better form, as emons. h t
process is shaken out in the milling, falling onto the floor before ~ e va ·
11res . k cardmals hats, a
. e are the signs of Catholic authority: mrtres, croo s, . b
tnple t. . . · ied m a bucket Y a
tara. Some of the corn unfit for gnndmg IS carr ·
figu ling in a bucket m
re on the right-hand side and is fed to pigs, shown guzz k d
the b0 tt . ' . . mprised of moo s an
. om ngbt-hand corner. This poorer gram " co ill-
brshop Th the symbol of the m
s. e grain sacks and the mill-hands carry . . Th·s
Whee] •· il . a] h gh the cross IS ]ackmg. 1
• srm ar to that in The Divine M1ll, t au the
76 The Divine Mill ftl 'Ymbo]li k h 10 · fluence of one on
pu.ren gemacht (M ' 1 ~page to Dyss hand zwen schwytzer Oth n s the two works sufficiently to suggest t e _ rd is shown by
· · Rammmger, Augsburg, 1521), BL er. That the mill is here intended to signify the drvme Wo

..._ l:.
 Popular belief 107
106 Popular belief

the figure of the miller, standing on the right-hand side, clad in the robes of a
prince and pointing in an open book. It is the process of the Word whJCh
reveals the true nature of the papacy and of Catholic belief. This reading of
the visual text is reinforced by the title on the sheet, from Proverbs 27.22:
'Crush a fool in a mortar ... yet his folly will not depart from him.'
The divine mill theme was reworked further in a 1577 broadsheet by
Tobias Slimmer, with text from Johann Fischart, The Weird and Grotesque
Mill (ill. 78). 19 The caption supplies the central idea: as the corn is, so is the
flour. The diabolical nature of the Catholic clergy is again revealed by the
refining process of the mill. Here death delivers the sacks on a bony.
emaciated steed, recalling the images of death in the devotional memento
mori genre. Three demon-like monsters act as mill-hands, pouring the sacks of
clergy into the hopper, whence they emerge as monsters and demons. Here,
however, we have an inversion of the original devotional theme of the divine
mill. We are now in the diabolical mill Satan's mill to which the clergy are
delivered by death. The work is thus a :nemento mo~i for the Catholic clergy,
and a revelation for the inc.:autious believer. Milled into their true nature, the
Catholic clergy are exposed as demons.
Another motif frequently used in popular devotion was the image of the
ship. This was no doubt based on Luke 5.3, in which Christ teaches from a
boat, works the miracle of the prodigious shoal of fish and promises the

77 If'// ( ]571) Dahlem

H. Resch, The Spiritual Afill of Fooh, B:\-1 78 T. Stimmer, Jhe ~feird and Grotesque j
1
'
JOH Popular belief
apostles that they will be fishers of men. The ark of r-..'oah, as a prefiguration
of the Church. would also have contributed to the connotations of this image,
and by the late fifteenth century it was a standard topos for the Church. It
became more explicitly so with the development of the ship of St Ursula into
a representation of the papal Church, seen in the illustration provided by
Peter 1:\i)tncr for the llunguriun Clmmit!e (!!l. 79)_' 1) ['he penis of ~ca tra1l:l
in that age added another connotation. the precarious and dangerous nature
of ship voyages, which could be adapted for devotional exhortation. A wood·
cut from around 1512, The Ship of SalPalion (ilL 80), gives an elaborate
exposition of the motif, explained in great detail by the text on the dorsal
side of the sheetY The ship sails over the sea of life to the places of salvation.
such as Jerusalem. This suggests a further influence on this metaphor, the
perilous sea voyages undertaken hy those on pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
The first ship of life was made by God, but the first sailors, Adam and Eve,
ran it onto the rock of disobedience. Baptism provided a second ship, but this
is all too easily breached and sinks through sin. Penance is the third ship,
which each man can make for himself with the aid of Christ the carpenter.
This ship sails the sea of the world, in which lurk the numerous monsters of
vice. These often overturn or swamp the ship, hut the sailor can bail out the
water with confession. Faith, with the infallible needle of belief, is the com·
pass; the rudder is God's commands and precepts; the mast is Christ's cr~ss ;
1 and a canon attempt to trim the wind·filled sails, which bear the Image of the
the sails are laid on with free will, but not in every wind, only in the fair wmo
of piety. There is the anchor of hope, and the ship's hands are the holy angels
who take good care for the barque.
These two images, the ship of the Church and the ship of the individual
believer' are joined by the third common ship image of the early sixteenth
'3on bnnkibm ba l)atligm ctlfftaufmt junclfraW•
atllmb oon 3tbnig 18uM 1 fo tlOn fcmcm fuw
llcr~anfd)(agmt\larb. <tap. 7.
79 1'. Flotncr. 11ie Ship of St Ursula (I 5 15), Dahlem
Popular belief 109
century, the ship of fools. ln his brilliant image of an overloaded ship en·
trusted to the folly of its becapped crew, Sebastian Brant has skilfully com·
bined both of these images. In chapter 103 of The Ship of Fools he contrasts
StPeter's barque with the ship of the Antichrist. The latter is frail and easily
wrecked, endangering those foolish enough to board it. This is depicted
vividly in the illustration to the chapter (ill. 81), showing the Antichrist
seated upon the wrecked vessel, while the fools who capsized in it seek to
escape drowning. Such is the folly of mankind that another ship of fools try
to attach themselves to the sinking vessel, lured perhaps by the sack of gold
held by the Antichrist in his right hand. This depiction from the 1498 edition
of Brant's work was striking enough for it to be copied in another sheet by
Erhard Schoen, and shows a visual contrast between the frailty of the ship of
Antichrist and the solidity of St Peter's barque. The latter brings its comple·
ment safely to land, the former places them in mortal danger. However,
Brant's pessimism led him to express in his written text the fear that even St
Peter's ship might founder: 'St Peter's ship is swaying madly. It may be
wrecked or damaged badly.' This doom·laden sense of impending disaster was
expressed through another ship image used as an illustration to a popular
prophecy published in 1508 n It shows the ship of the Church gomg under m
a storm; the pope and the clergy throw up their hands in terror, while a king
crucified Christ.
80 The Ship ufSalvatiull (1512), GN~
110 Popular belief Ill

The ship image was firmly established as a popular devotional sign by the
eve of the Reformation, and it is not surprising that it should have been
adapted for evangelical propaganda. The 1508 illustration reappeared as a
titlepage in 1522, making a more polemical point than its earlier usc (ill.
82)." The sensitive spot touched by this particular image is attested to by
the fact that it was used again as an illustration for a work published in
Leipzig in 1523.11ere, however, the papal tiara was cut away, plainly to avoid
giving offence to the Catholic ruler of Leipzig, Duke George of Saxony."
This further attests to the importance of visual signs in the period, for the
content of the pamphlet itself, a mock prognostic by the physician Johannes
Copp, was strongly evangelical.
An undated broadsheet, probably from the early Reformation period,
attempts clumsily In blend the ship and the fishers images (ill. H3). lt shows
four ships full of Catholic clergy, one of them bearing the papal arms, engaged
in catching laymen. These ships are so heavily laden with all kinds of clergy,
especially monks and friars, that they are about to sink under the weight.
Those laymen who attempt to board these ships of the Church are beaten
back. They are intended, rather, to be caught up in the trawling net operated

8lpfrgrl brr nnmrlfrhrniJinthfr~rn

~nD p;eopl,lrr~fct- crt fcbm·gcn ,;~J!cr tl.llbf.:lrn;~n! ~·vi\
ur
nOttbu 'tl~tr .. (fnJt·(lr cji:i; :td)tC 1 l rtb £'CHMYII
()m t tr ((, •fhnbq•t 1 jimbab(,t fb bciH 1\.nb(rrt
"C!1i Ek~zplon Mlf' I1Jturl11t; i:r•nflufi brt.~zmdl
'llnb~Ttt'Oifl\'n !fin •.,~in bml (lbrnbrn 4:hm:a;IX!i
nnfd bfgriffmn;in ru 113 m ugtn ercn lt'ntornnl
iDu1·4J torn r;.irtoigm h• n Jortp~ QJzU11rcd' ll
t1111mbcrg b(ld;tibrn.

81 l1l t .
BL 1A 3~~~;tiOfn to IJ_octor Brants Narrenschijf ( 1499),
""
, ol. s HI.
82 d Title page to J · Grun peck, Spzegel
· · · h
der naturlichen hzmllsc en
un prophetischen sehungen (W. Stockel, Leipzig, 1522), BL
~-------------------------------------------------~
112 Popular helief Popular belief JJ3

by the two boats on the right, and trapped by the giant lobster net between the pope enthroned in the jaws of hell which we discussed in the previous
them. Certainly, individual laymen may be taken on board, as indicated in chapter. Clearly the papal ship is a diabolical craft, confirmed by the winged
the bottom right-hand corner, by acquiring the monastic cowl in exchange for demons who assist its passage by pulling it forward and driving it through the
a sack of coin. This cowl closely resembles a fool's cap, and the monk in the water by means of a fan, a pair of bellows and a trumpet.
prow of this boat, who is pulling on the trawling net, seems to have been This ship is not, however, just a ship of papal clergy. It is as much the ship
given a fool's cap fnr a cowl. Thus it is suggested that the ships of the papal of Catholic practice. The church, supported by the legs of the monster, has
Church are ships of fools. They arc also the ships of exploitation, by which three idols and the papal arms above its entrance. A pilgrimage church is per·
the laity are caught for sale. They are propelled hy vice, indicated by the haps intended, for votives can be seen through the windows on the side. In
figures of the four winds in the top left.hand corner, representing impiety, the prow of the ship there is a procession, with the host exposed in a man·
flattery, hypocrisy and superstition. What enables this prodigious draught of strance. On the shore behind the departing ship stands a nun holding a cloth
fish, however, is explained by the Latin caption bottom centre, the simplicity stuffed full of the items of Catholic belief. She also carries under her arm a
of Christians. From the heavens, a group of saints clad in monastic habits swaddled child, the result of illicit sexual activity. Finally, two owls perch on
watch the scene with anguish. They clearly represent the original monastic the sail of the ship, birds of ill·omen, doubtless signifying the fate of the
ideal of Christian simplicity, now perverted by their successors. The written Catholic Church.
text of the broadsheet fails signally to make full use of this range of visual In contrast to this polemical use of the ship image, we can also fmd the
images. It touches, however, a central point made by the depiction, that the ~ter Refonmation adopting it again as a pious image. The Ship of the Apostles
Catholic Church is for the clergy, while the laity exist only to be exploited by Matthias Zundt from 1570 provides an example (ill. 87). Here we have a
by them. ship of the Church or ship of faith not dissimilar to the version of 1512. On
The ship of the Church was used more simply and effectively in the 1540s ' d
the prow are the four Evangelists, on the stern the other apostles. Peter an
in two woodcuts by Mathias Gerung. One shows the shipwreck of the papal Paul are the steersmen, John the Baptist the lookout in the prow. On a raiSed
Church (ill. 84). A ship bearing the pope, a cardinal, a bishop and a monk, deck is Christ with the cross, beside him the Protestant sacraments- baptiSm,
with two cardinals holding papal bulls standing on a bridge in the prow,
breaks in two. The other half contains the emperor and princes. In the back·
ground, a sea monster swims towards the ship, or perhaps has caused it to
sink, while another ship of the Catholic clergy goes down in the background.
It expressed the simple message that the papal Church is doomed, and may be
taken as a companion piece to the second illustration, the ship of Christ (ill.
85) .. This shows the ship of the Catholic clergy and that of the Turks founder·
mg 10 the foreground, a double message about the fate of false belief. The
centre of the depiction is occupied by the ship of Christ, which sails on
mVIncibly. Manned by the apostles, its main cabin is a church, from whtch
two angels repel attacks on it. These come from demons on the prows of two
ships of Catholic clergy in the background which attempt to impede the
course of Christ's ship. '
The. ship of the papal Church was used with brilliant inventiveness in an
e:gravmg fro':' the latter half of the sixteenth century (ill. 86). Here we see a
P pal ship settmg sail from land, the body of the ship furmed by a grasshopper·
like creature lying on 1't s b ack . s·IX o f.Its legs support a church wh ose steeple
forms the mast for the sail. The comb and spike on the crea;ure's forehead
proVIde a rudder with which the pope steers his barque which is rowed by
seven sets of clergy Th ' 1· d by
· e rowlocks for these clerical oarsmen are supp te
rows of teeth ala th 'd . f the
. ng e SI e of this 'boat', and give it the appearance 0
Jaws of some great t . · s of 84 M. Gerung, Shipwreck of the Papal Church ( 1545 ), BM
mons er. It thus has iconographical links to deptctwn 85 M. Gerung, The Ship of Christ ( 1548), BM
ll4 Popular belief Popular belief 115

the Lord's Supper, confession and absolution. Four archangels bear the instru-
ments of the Passion, recalling Christ's salvific death. The ship is rowed for-
ward by the Christian emperors since Constantine, an appropriate theme for
the age of the territorial Protestant Church. In the sea encircling the ship,
swimming or riding on sea-horses, are the hostile and heretical powers: Nero,
Caiphas, Pilate, Sergius, :-lestorius, Pelagius, Arius and ~ahomet (all swim-
ming), Antioch us, Attila, Genserich, Herod, the Turk, the Tartar, Jezebel and
the whore of Babylon (all on horses). These are all persecutors or opponents
of the Church, a theme continued by two scenes on land. On the left, the
three children in the fiery furnace, saved from persecution by the intervention
of the Lord; on the right, St Paul another persecutor of the Church, struck
down on the road to Damascus. Thus the Protestant Church is depicted as the
true Church, whose enemies will not prevail against it.
The role of the visual image in popular devotion was to call the mind of
the pious believer to spiritual truths and to concentrate his attention on
th , .
em. The examples of evangelical propaganda we have discussed above all
depend on this principle. Often working through satire or parody, they none-
theless serve to call attention to the truth about the old and new belief, and
to concentrate the reader's attention on it. The process mvolve· d IS· one m ·
which familiar images are set in new surroundings or given new connotations.
The viewer is thus led from the familiar to the unfamiliar and is asked to
ponder the implications of this revelation. Its content is that the Catholic
clergy and the papacy are sinful and vicious, opposed to Christ and inimical
to salvation. This is a pious message, but it depends heavily on anticlerical
feelmg, which makes the reader the more susceptible to its argument. Yet one
may question · whether such a process of itself would be capable 0 f arousmg ·
~: de,'P and_ passionate religious feeling which might dispose the reader to
CatholiCISm and embrace the new belief. How far did ReformatiOn
Propaganda seek to touch stronger religious emotions, the impulses which led
rnen of that age to turn ro popular devotion of whatever k'md'· .
th One of the major preoccupations of the Christian believer of that time was
e salvatiOn of his soul and the time when this was adjudged. For thiS reason,
<schat 1 · · h · der
oft 0 ogy was a dominant theme of sixteenth-century religiOn, t e remm
jud he last things of life and the last days. This took two forms, the gene.ral
d !ment of all men at the end of the world, and the judgment of the mdtvi-
huaJ soul · Esc hatology is a persistent mottf . . 1· 1 opaganda. We
m evange tea pr
ave seen th 1 k d' cussed above.
Th e general judgment alluded to in severa war s IS ·
40
ere is the motif of the sheep and goats in illustrations 20 and · The

·~~
h °
'PPearanc f
e
. h
Chnst as Lord and so as the judge oft e war ,
ld issuggested m

Th . .,__ _,. ..._~ ~~ ~e Woodcuts: The Compl~int of the Godless, The Divine Mill, Two::;~~s
86 e Ship of the Papal Ch . and bachmg and Be hem's '!he Fall of the Papacv (see above, tlls. 22 a . I'
87 M. Zundt The Apo , urch, Mumch, Staatl. Graph. Samml. elo 13 · f the indlVIdua
' st1es Ship ( 1570), Dahlem
iud w 2 and 166). We can see an example of the use o
iment 10 a titlcpage from a pamphlet of 1525 (ill. 88).
 JJ6 Popular belief Popular belief Jl7

The judgment of the individual soul was often represented by a weighing
in a pair of scales. The saved soul is weighed against personified evil in the
other tray - either the Devil, wicked souls or personified sins or vices. Until
the sixteenth century this weighing up of souls was a component part of
depictions of the Last Judgment. 25 Our title page shows a pair of scales sus·
pended from the heavens, held by the invisible hand of God. On one tray sits
Christ, so much outweighing the combined bulk of a pope and cardinal io the
other tray that they are flung high into the air. The pope clutches a bull of
indulgence, affixed with the papal seal, but this is of no weight compared to
the true remission of sin provided by Christ, shown handing such a remission
to three simple laymen. Christ's letter of indulgence is sealed with a true
token of forgiveness, the image of the Saviour. Beneath the pope, two devils
examine the indulgences presented to them hy a naked soul, one of whom
makes a gesture of rejection - papal forgiveness will not save one from hell,
for the second devil places a possessive arm around the suppliant figure. On a
near-by tree two animals, perhaps a cat and a squirrel, thus possibly signifying
Murner and Henner, leap up to catch bulls dropped by the pope in his invol·
untary flight. This woodcut cleverly combines the notion of the Last Judg·
ment, through the weighing up of papal and Christian belief, with the idea of
personal judgment, through the plight of the single soul. For the believer
concerned about salvation, its message was direct and simple.
The emotive force of such eschatological references for a sixteenth-century
88
!itlepage to Ein schons tractetlein 1mn dem GOt lichen
und romischen A bias [J. Schmidt, Speyer, 1525]
reader can be understood only by examining the greater sense of immediacy
about the last days which prevailed at the beginning of the sixteenth century.
Wilhelm Peuckert has pointed out that the Reformation occurred in an apoca-
lyptic age, an age which expected a great change in the world." This may
have been understood as the end of the world or as the coming of a new
epoch of the world's existence. In either case, the imminence of this great
change was proclaimed continually by prophetic works found in rich abun-
dance during the two generations before the emergence of an evangelical
movement. This generated an apocalyptic fervour whose significance has been
largely unexplored. A number of different elements went into the making of
tlis apocalyptic fervour, each reinforcing the others in their cumulative
effects. Taken together, they form the most characteristic elements of popular
belief during the age of the Reformation. First, there was a strong sense of
pessimism and fatalism; second, there was the powerful influence of astrology;
tlird, there was a deep-rooted belief in signs and omens; fourth, there was a
tradition of mystical prophecy which offered a cogent spiritual interpretation
of these events; finally, there was a broad stream of one particular kmd of
prophecy, Joachimism, which enabled men to locate this great change hiS·
toncally and to link it to hopes for spiritual and secular improvement. In the
context of our present discussion, such elements can best be understood
through their iconographical representation. . ..
Fatalism was embodied in the wheel of fortune, a motif of clasSJcal ongms
wlich the middle ages struggled to reconcile with the Christian idea of
providence. One feature of the wheel of fortune was its warning agamst pnde
and haughtiness on the part of the mighty. The wheel of fate turns meVlt·
ably .
. . _ ' and bnngs · · ·ble. Thus
down those who believe themselves mvmcl . . most .
ttlteenth-oentury depictions of the wheel of fortune show a king ndmg htgh
on the whee 1 wh!le . another topples from the pn.d e o f P1ac e• and a thJTd
. nses.
on the turning wheel, soon to take his position of honour for a ttm~. This
concept of fate was essentially non-Christian, but was reconciled m t~e
IConography with Christian belief by showing a rein or scarf attached tot e
~hdl an e or to the figure of Fortune who turne d"Th~-~~
tt. IS . .
°
the ha nd f God, so that ultimatelv it was hew ho set the wheel m motwn,
andhi . • ,
s provtdence which decided men's fortunes. h f
Th b" the t erne o
th us a woodcut from the IS .lOs by Georg Pencz com mes_ A kin
e fatalism of the wheel with that of hope for the underdog (til. 89 ). . g
and t .0 . f 1 t hing two wme
"' ~ prmces sit atop the wheel, the prince on the e t c u c
1 I hil
&<ssest 0 · · . 1 ber 0 n the whee ,w e a
SJgmfy luxurious living. Two arttsans cam . Th h el
no b
· le on th e rtght · has reached a point where hemus t fall from 1!. e w d he
Is tu d b · aroun er
0
/ne by the blindfolded figure of Fortune, guided Y a ret0 enting
thee , held by the hand of God in the clouds. Two ragged figures,Treptrhes left a
. e Poor · respectively pray for and greet the tum of the wheel · . o e. '·
crowd 0 f d · dtscussiOn, tn
Well-dressed burghers and clergy are engage m

....ILi.L
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------,
118 Popular belief
apparent ignorance of the scene being acted out behind them. One figure
alone, bearded and holding a stick, perhaps a peasant, draws the reader's
attention to the scene with a hand gesture. It is a warning to the complacent
and well-to-do of the way in which fate would sooner or later turn against
them.
Sebastian Brant also made use of the theme in chapter 37 of 1he Ship of
Fools, reminding those fools who climb too high that a turn of the wheel will
soon tumble them to earth. The illustration to this chapter (ill. 90) shows
three asses with fools' caps, one climbing the wheel, a second atop the wheel,
triumphantly holding aloft a crown, a third being pitched headlong as the
wheel comes down. The figure of Fortune or Fate has been dispensed with
here, and the hand of God alone turns the wheel by means of a rope attached
to the handle. The artist uses theriomorphism skilfully to depict the cycle of
fortune. The fool riding up on the wheel is changed into an ass above the
waist; at the top, he has become completely an ass; as he falls, he is still an ass
below the waist; by implication, he is completely a rnan again as he falls to
the ground, into the open grave awaiting him below.
The wheel of fortune could be linked to pessimism in two ways, by show·
ing the wheel as the ages of man, depicting his inevitable decay and the un·
avoidability of death. Thus, in one version of the theme, death in the form of
a mockingly laughing corpse turns the wheel. In another it is linked to the
idea that death comes to all men by an accompanying depiction of a corpse in
28
a grave. If it was pessimistic, this motif was also intended to provide con-
89
G. Pencz, The Wheel uf Fortune, LJB Erlangen-~umberg
Popular belief ll9
solation: death is the great equaliser, reducing all men to the same level. How.
ever, the motif was also capable of bitter social comment, shown by a wood-
cut from around 1480 (ill. 91 ). At the top of the wheel sits Reinecke Fuchs,
crowned with a triple tiara to signify the pope. On each side of him is a monk,
a Franciscan on his right in the form of a bear, signifying Begging and Greed;
on his left, a Dominican in the form of a wolf, representing Avarice. On each
side of these are two mounted figures, on the left Pride, on the right Hatred.
Seated oo the horizontal spokes of the wheel are a man with a sickle repre-
senting Falsehood and a priest with a host and chalice representing Self·
conceit. At the bottom of the wheel lies Constancy, broken by the fall and
naked but for a loin-cloth. Behind the wheel is the giant figure of Patience,
who will turn it in due course, aided by the figures seated bottom left and
right, a Samaritan monk representing Love and a beguine representing
Humility."
This sheet is remarkable fur several features. It adapts the animal allegories
of Reinecke Fuchs, Isengrim the wolf, Braun the bear, and the wily fox
Reinecke himself to attack the financial and political pretensions of the
papacy and the monastic Orders. The nobility and the priesthood are also
targets of attack, while the author is clearly sympathetic to the sufferings of
the common man, crushed at the bottom of the wheel. It is anticlerical and
anti-papal, and indeed the written text castigates the pope's pretensions to
90 Illustration to Doctor Brants Narrenschyff 0 499 ),
BL lA 37957, fol. f6v
120 Popular belief Popular belief 121

rule all lands, an ant1cipation of ~he more virulent Reformation attack on the
papacy. For the common man it !S consolatory: if he is patient, the wheel will
turn and his time on top will come.
A direct descendant of this work can be found in the titlepage of an
anonymous pamphlet published m early May 1525, during the height of the
Peasant War (ill. 92). TI1c centrepiece of the depiction is a wheel of fortune.
or. which the pope, clad in armour, rides up on the right·hand side. Behind
him are his supporters, armed cardinals, bishops and knights. These are
identified by the inscnption above them as Romanists and Sophists, stock
wtheran epithets for papalists and Scholastic theologians. The wheel IS
turned by the figure of Dame Fortune. On the other side stand men armed
with pikes and spears, onto whose upraised points the turn of the wheel will
deposit the pope. Clad as randsknechte, these are identified by the caption
above as 'Peasants and good Christians'. The caption under this scene reads:
'~no increases the Swiss'' The greed of the lords.' This refers tn the Swiss as
the symbul of those who threw off overweening authority, and rejected the
~oke of feudal lords for a republican federation of yeoman farmers and
mdependent towns. The Swiss were invoked in prophetic literature of the
late.fiiteenth century, the astrologer Johann Lichtenberger using much the
same Words to prophesy the spread of Swiss republicanism, because rulers

:!in Oie ~m.tmlung £\WIJ\'ntr l?>Jil'<T·

fd)"-fft.fQ In l,Qd,tcutfcf,rr t1at!On t"Mt'l 1•d ,,nt'lt
rtt Ott/mit cmpOmng v-n: ~uflnir cn~}.mbC. • C.
08rr nnp3lUng 6tlhct,r~ obt:r ~nptlhdJcr .{\C
jlaltg:tfd}d)( 11nb was~' 'Orr ('lf\crf.ttt
fd)ult>tg obfr nzd)t fd,ulbzg fttn"tl. -:-C.
gcg:rdn'tlttQ.I.lf bet ~11igm c.130t;
ILrl,<n g:cld)utfi· ron Q...,8erlzn-
btfd)cn mttSzubcrn gUrtcr
m11.ynnng: ,,ufg,mgm
ttnt'l6cfrl)ttflcn. -:-(,
l,lrifi b~ IS!Jilfubtlo n11nl.l t'M~ )rvt
lfto« •••ffft!rr flfr 1Brrr/f SIHh.

l r:<"Ol/]·
9! The Wheel uf F 92 Titlepage to An die vers~mlu.ng gemeyner Bawerschafft
ortune and Reinecke Fuchs, Albertina
0 525), Nat. Lib. Edinburgh
122 Popular belief
would not moderate their behaviour. The pamphlet itself follows this line,
supplying biblical justification for peasant resistance, using ideas close to
those of Zwingli. The titlepage, however. preserves the uncertainty associated
with the wheel of fortune, in that it was never sure where the wheel would
come to rest: 'Here is the hour and time of the wheel of fortune. God knows
who will remain supreme.·JO
This mixture of fatalism, social criticism and evangelical inspiration can be
seen in another woodcut, The Poor Common Ass by Pekr FJ()tner (ill. 93).
The poor ass, signifying the common people, is ridden by Tyranny, Avarice
and Hypocrisy. The last, in the form of a monk clutching a money·bag, has
been thrown off the lands ignominiously on the ground. However, Avarice in
the form of a Jew is still seated astride the ass, flaying it alive, while Tyranny
is also firmly seated in the saddle. In the centre stands the figure of Reason,
holding a cloth before the eyes of the ass. Behind her, Justice is locked in !he
stocks, her scales hanging uselessly on a nail, while her right hand, in whrch
she holds the sword of justice, is pinioned to the block by a handcuff. To her
left stands another figure clutching a sword and a book, the Word of God.
As we have seen in a similar allegory by Behem (see ill. 30), the interpret·
ation is not unambiguous. The common folk have thrown off the rider
Hypocrisy, that is, they have rebelled against monasticism. But they are still
subject to Tyranny and Greed. Justice is unable to assist, but the Word of
God may intervene with the sword of the Bible. The role played by Reason is
ambtguous. Is she removing the blindfold from the ass, thus enabling him to
see the state of affairs: that Justice is bound and one has only the Word of
~d on which to rely? Or is she obscuring his vision, even about to tic :he
blindfold on? The latter would accord with a Lutheran, Augustinian readrng
of the Vtsual text, the former with a humanist reading. The structure of the
s~ene gives little clue here. If it is taken as an antithesis between the three
nders and the three figures, Reason would seem to be unbinding the eyes.
Pete Fl ..
r otner, The Poor Common Ass ( 1525), Dahlem
Popular belief 123
However, Reason stands in the centre of the composition, and thus may serve
to separate the two groups and so to impede vision. It is this ambiguity which
~ves the work its fatalistic tone. The Word provides hope of release, but it is
no unconditional hope, but a hope tinged with warning of a struggle to come
which may be won or lost by the common folk seeking their liberation."
Fatalism may well have been one result of the widespread interest in
astrology which dominated the age. This involved the belief that man's fate
was influenced by the heavenly bodies and consequently that future events
could be read from their movementn Two kinds of heavenly event were of
Particular interest. The first was the regular and predictable course of the
planets, the second the extraordinary occurrence, such as a comet or meteorite.
Among the regular movements of the planets, eclipses and conjunctions
attracted most attention. Eclipses, however, provided only a minor theme m
astrological literature, although there was some revival of interest in them
during the 1520s. Thus an astrological work published by the Erfurt phystctan
Johann Copp in 1523 warned of eclipses in that year which would lead to
disturbances of the common man against the clergy and to a rebellion of the
peasants against their lords. 33
Popularisation of Arabic astrological tracts in western Europe at the end of
the fif
1 teen th century stimulated the overwhe Immg· m · teres t in con]· unctions.
Ftom around 1470 these formed the subject·matter of the small printed
Works, Praktiken or prognostics which foretold events for the coming year or
Years, based on the anticipated movements of the planets and thetr con·
' ·
,uncttons. From the beginning of the sixteenth century, thi s bl'fwas e te.
concentrated on the year 15 24 when no less than twenty planetary conJunc-
tions were expected sixteen of them in the sign of the fish. The first pre-
dicti on concernmg . these
' .
conjunctions dated from !499 ' by the Tubmgenf
astronomer Johann Stoeffler. He called attention both to the large number ~d
conjunctions and to the momentous effects these would have on war
affairs."
. By IS 17 oral tradition had embroidered thts. pre d'10f 10 n' directing atten-d
!ton to the influence of the sign of the fish to foretell a great deluge cau~
by the conjunctions. This in itself occasioned a flood of literatur~ about It3;
ronjuncrtons, m . total some fifty-six authors ta k'mg up the discussson mgh in
wlSorks in six languages. The high point was reached, naturally enFoubru,ary
23--4 · h works published in 15 23 an d sixteen up to e kin
I524 GeWit fifty·one
. d. when the first war
Ge tntan· rman Interest was strongly arouse m 1521 ' th Reich·
was pubhshed.
· . .
The conJuncttons were muc h discussed at I eIn fact
1,.
~~of W dsh t were put on sa e.
th orms, where large illustrated broa ee 8 f' f the con-
e
·uJ . Peak tnterest was reached in Germany, where the e ,ects o of the
0f .
evan
nctJon
Were linked both to social unrest an °
d t the emergence
I and in
parti!~~cal movement. In foretelling imminent disaster ~~;ht~~; ;~~~notion
ar for the papal hierarchy' prognostrcs dealmg w
124 Popular belief Popular belief 125

provided propaganda for the new religious movement. Vivid titlepages and rural workers; over criminals, the diseased and the crippled. Saturn himself is
illustrations made these points visually. 35 frequently depicted as an aged cripple with a sickle or scythe; clearly he is
One of the most expressive was used for a 1523 prognostic by Leonhart intended to be represented by the figure holding the scythe and banner at the
Reynmann, taking as its central theme the great flood predicted for February head of a band of peasant followers. The emperor, pope, cardinal and bishops
1524 (ill. 94). It shows the conjunction of several planets In the sign of the opposing them stand for the children of Jupiter. The astrological significance
fish, producing a deluge which sweeps away a town and its inhabitants. The of other planets in the conJunction emphasises the threat of war and disorder
planets are identified by their astrological symbols as Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, implicit in the aggressive stance of the followers of Saturn. The Moon repre·
Venus, Mercury, the Sun and the Moon. The figures grouped to the left and sents changeability and restlessness, and is an unfavourable influence when rn
right of the flood represent Saturn and Jupiter as the major opposing forces. the sign of the fish. The Sun may stand for contentiousness, while Mars, the
The astrologers regarded these as the two 'superior planets', which because constant companion of Saturn, is the planet of war, standing for murder,
of their slower orbits came only rarely into conjunction, indeed in the same violence, arson and theft. Venus is the counterforce to Mars, and represents
sign on]y once in every 960 years. This was regarded as a 'great conjunction', morals, manners and fair behaviour, which is threatened by war. These astra-
producing particularly radical effects. Saturn was said to bring great mis· . . , e
logical allusions to the chaos resulting from the 'great conJunctwn ar
fortune for the State, and for the Church as well when In conjunction with
reinforced by the presence of the two figures with pipe and drum in the back·
Jupiter, which was held to rule over religion. The conjunction of February
ground. These refer possibly to the folk belief that the sound of pipe and
1524 was to be such a 'great conjunction', bringing disease and death, the
drum presage the imminence of war. This is confirmed by the comet, shaped
significance perhaps of the corpse inside the fish. In this illustration, however,
like a star but given a comet's tail by rounded cross-strokes, to the left of
the flood is subordinated to the prediction of a crisis threatening Church and
these figures. According to Reynmann, the advent of a comet in that year
State, linked to the danger of a peasant rebellion.
would bring a peasant rebellion with it. Saturn's banner and th~ band of
Saturn was said to rule over lowly professions and occupations, such as
anned peasants at his back confirm and complete all these allusiOns.
Comets or meteors, as extraordmary . · th e heavens • were held . to
events In
~zactica vbcr Oic groffcn """ ma;: re .
P sage some momentous occas10n even to exercise ·. some influence caus1ng
rugfilngflai[omilrflon ~r Pl.uttrm:bit: m1
J;;c.tll.'O.l:~nli.nfct,rHirll/l'ti"t\.> it · Th us the faU of a giant meteorite ' at Enstsheirn
· · In · Al sace 1·n 1492. was taken.
tlrJ1VCilfdt ,,1 ~Wnb«Gru:~
'Orna:gq:m-uaambm. to prefigure great changes in the politics of the Holy Roman Emplfe, rangmg
from the death of the Emperor Frederick III to the inauguration of a new
g
~d en age. Sebastian Brant, in particular, took tt. as a Sign ~~-­
propitious for Maximilian of Austria to act boldly against his foes: fate no~
favoured him, and he should seize the spokes of the wheel of fortune an
arrest Its· course to his own advantage. 37 Heavenly 1I.gh ts seen in Vtenna for
n, da . .
' Ys durtng the first week of January 1520 prompte a
d p mphilus Gengen·
. h .
bach ' an able evangelical polemicist to tssue . a roa eet interpretmg t eu
b dsh .
· · • · il l"ghts seen m
StSJttficance. Gengenbach called attention to the fact that Stm ar 1 b tl
1514 Were followed by several disasters- epidemic, floods and a great hat e
tn Mil
. .
an. The Vtenna lights were a wammg . to Ch ares 1 y that the Churc h" was
tn d d should follow tm
anger; but Luther was on the right path, an one d f 1524
gladly. Gengenbach especially pointed out the dangers expecteTh or a'
and , f on ere was
Warned the monastic Orders to prepare for retorma 1 ·
dancger of a new Hussite movement 38 • In general
om t phettc manner.
th e s Were also interpreted in the same pro d ue floods
ey Were held to foreshadow disturbance and war, dearth an pag 1 'f Capri:
94 storm d · in the Stgns o
Title page to L. Reynmann, Practica (H. HOltzel, san earthquakes. 39 A comet of 1523 appeanng ders
Nuremberg, 1523), BL corn d . . . . . of the lower or
a . an Sagittarius was taken as predtctmg a ns_mg k. terprets this in
8atnst the clergy and nobility. An illustration to this wor In
-
12~ Popular belief
Popular belief 127
an anti-papal sense (ill. 95). In the top right-hand corner the comet is flanked
diabolical trickery, and advised testing such signs by their consonance with
by. the g~Jat and the archer. In the top left-hand corner a peasant attacks a
Scripture. The conviction that they were some kind of divine warning seems
kmght With a flail. In the foreground a burgher or a scholar beats a monk,
Ia have been not incompatible with evangelical belief. Luther held this view,
wh1le a Landsknecht prepares to strike down the pope with a sword. A
even if he carefully avoided applying them to any specific event." Omens
secon~ Landsknecht points to the heavens, as though justifying these acts of
rebellion by divine command. 40 and portents could thus be understood as a call for men to repent and under-
Belief in comets as signs of momentous events to occur in the near future
take moral improvement.
was but one aspect of a wider belief in omens and portents which was shared
Monsters and misbirths were accorded special significance in the canon of
even by Protestants during the SIX
· t een th century. These ranged from signs m
· signs and omens. They were usually taken to signify misfortune, although
the heavens ' such as strange 1·1ght s, cunous they could also be regarded as political allegories. Sebastian Brant in 1496
· c1ou d formatiOns
· and rains of
publ~hed two broadsheets dealing with misbirths, one on Siamese twins born
blood or crosses
. , to misbirth s, monsters an d deformatiOns
· of nature. A virtual
encycloped'"_,of such phenomena was put together in 1557 by Conrad near Wonns, the other on the birth of a sow at Landser in the Sundgau with
Lycosthenes. In a preface to the German edition of this work, the Lutheran two bodies, but one head. Brant interpreted both events as political omens••
, Johann . Herold att emp t e d to d efi1ne the spectrum of such <wonder
pubhcJSt On the other hand, a much-publicised misbirth to a nun in Florence in 1512
works
. . . Herold. .hsts sig · 1es, vtstons,
. _ns, muac ·· prophecies, dreams, oracles, pre- was interpreted as a divine punishment for her denial of her pregnancy ... A
diCtions, prodigies • dtvmati ons, omens, wonders, portents, presages, presenti-
. broadsheet by Lorenz Fries on a misbirth near Rome in !513 cast the net
ments, monsters • impress·Ions, marve. 1s, spells charms and ,·ncantations. 42 more widely, seeing it as signifying God's wrath, expressed in plague, disunity
Herold' 5 d esue
· for comprehensiveness clearly 'led him to stray beyond the of Christians, advances of the Turk and loss of money from the land. But God
bounds
. of. mere omens ' es pecta . 11 Y m. t h e Iast three categories where he slips ~so looked on man with pity, and had given them a pious, wise and learned
mto. htalkmg
h about ma•;c H
"' · e was scephca . 1about many of these' signs, some of pope, who would tum all to good. The 1513 misbirth thus becomesa sign of
w hIC e saw
. as . pure su t. t.
pers ' wn, others as the work of the Devil to lead hope, associated with the accession of Leo X in March that year."
astray the. mcautwus
. belie ver. S urpnsmg,.. however, is the amount of credence Skilled publicists such as Brant and Fries knew how to make the most of
h e was WJI!mg to .nve to th . . misbirths, and it is not surprising that Refonnation propaganda should have
. , , "' e maJOnty of such signs and wonders. 'Wonder
hi h were the true wi tne sses an d certam
stgns · confirmation of the Word of God, retzed eagerly such opportunities. Two monsters, one a real misbirth, the
w c must also flow from c0 ld b I'10 f S other half legendary, provided ammunition for evangelical propaganda in
God hJ·m If d b . e · o we find that these are produced by 1523 • a year when popular opinion was especially susceptible to ominous
se an y hts ere a tu re s. •43 Even here he took care to warn against
portents. The flrst was a calf born near Freiberg in Saxony on 8 December
1522 · the second a fabulous monster allegedly found in the Tiber near Rome
"' 1496. The calf misbirth had a large bald patch on the head, with two horny
knobs on it. It was covered with blotches or bald patches on its body, and
had a long lolling tongue and only one eye. A large flap of skin on its back
resembled a cowl, and from this and the bald patch on the head resembling
a tonsure it was known as the Monk Calf•' It was first interpreted by some-
one around the court of Margrave George of Brandenburg as app 1ymg
Lu · t0
ther, although the sign was seen as directed against the Catholic ciergy."
~e Pamphlet treated it as a misbirth which might symbolise _the clergy, but
the· not mention Luther. Rather it was a warning to the Catholic clergy about
Jr greed and high living. The author admonished them to live accordmg to
evangelical principles. This is not exceptional for treatment of a misbirth, and
: Jts moral point is not too dissimilar from the sheet on the Florence mJS-
tnhof 1512'o
a A second work was a broadsheet published before September 1523 • whi~
Erhard Schoen. Illustration for a Prognostic ~Plied the calf to Luther (ill. 96). This depicts the monster being shown °
e pope by a number of clerics, although the explanation is contamed
128 Popular he/ief
wholly within the printed rhymed text. 51 Two interpretation~ arc offered.
one by the clergy, the other by the pope's fool. First, the clergy interpret the
omen. The calf is identified as Luther. The two warts on its head are the two
swords of the papacy, which Luther would have taken away from the pope.
That the beast cannot see signifies that Luther has blinded the whole world
with his teaching, the long tongue the great trouble brought to the papacy by
his slanders. The 'cowl' can be nothing other than what was foretold long ago
by Reinhard, that a monk would bring a great heresy. The monster is thus
linked to the popular prophetic literature of the fifteenth century. Indeed,
the text continues, this prophecy is attested by the beast and by Luther. The
pope should beware lest his great power be lost, for such births also marked
the coming of Mahomet, who robbed Christendom of two empires and
twenty-four kingdoms.
The fool then steps forward to contradict this interpretation. lie reminds
them that great disturbance has arisen from the monastic Orders, indeed that
all evil flows from them. The beast is indeed a figure of Luther, but must be
seen in a different light. The two warts signify the pride and avarice character-
istic of the monks, against which Luther has written continuously. The beast
has but one eye, sigoifying the sole evangelical doctrine which Luther teaches.
The long tongue signifies how far his godly teaching has spread throughout
Chnstendom. The cowl indicates the monks and nuns, whose abuses he casti-
96
The Monk Calf before Pope Adrian ( t 523 ), Wickiana
Popular he!ief 12Y
gates. That the beast resembles an ox is a sign of Luther's robustness, for he
charges forth like a bull. The fool concludes his interpretation by bidding
Pope Adrian to do the Christian thing and to release all monks from their
Orders, so that a reform may be possible. The fool's interpretation, although
favourable to the new religious movement, is far from Lutheran. Like the
pamphlet mentioned ahove, it sees the calf as a warning to the Catholic clergy.
and uses it to express anti-monastic feeling. However, it stands closer to a
reforming Catholicism, reflecting the optimism for internal reform aroused by
the accession of Adrian VJ in 1522. Although it is sympathetic to the aims of
the Lutheran movement, it shows no sign of the latter's implacable hostility
towards the papacy as a whole.
The Monk Calf was also taken up by Luther and Melanchthon in a pam·
phlet of 1523. Melanchthon had first published an mlerpretation of the 1496
monster, the so-called Papal Ass, and then at Luther's inst~gation it was re·
published alongside Luther's interpretation of the Monk Calf.'' This pamphlet
depicts tirst the Papal Ass (ill. 98), then the Monk Calf(ill. 97),followed by
the two interpretations. Luther's explanation stressed the multiplicity of signs
97 Tht: Munk Calf, in P. Mdancht h on, <:
D 'uttung l dn czwu
A .. BL
grew lichen Figuren (1.· Rhau, "'"tt
rll en · ' 1o. ll,
berg , 1521)
98 The Papal Ass, in P. ~frlanchthon, Dt>uttung der CZ\Vo
grewlichen Figuren, fol. Ai, BL
 /30 Popular belief
to be found at that time. 53 Although he explicitly avoided a prophetic expla·
nation, he was convinced that such signs foreshadowed some great change in
the affairs of the world. He mentions specifically a similar misbirth at Lands-
berg. which he dubbed the Parson Calf because of its resemblance to a priest.
This was a sign appropriate to the priestly estate, he argued, which he would
not attempt to explain; he would be content, rather, to stick to that apper-
taining to his own, the monastic estate. As he saw it, the misbirth revealed
what kind of folk the monks were, and he proceeded to give a detailed
allegorical interpretation, taking each feature of the misbirth in turn.
First, the monster was no joke, but revealed the false appearance of
spiritual and godly life found in monkery. The Monk Calf is 'the false idol in
their deceitful hearts'. The calf is depicted in anthropomorphic fashion,
standing on its hind legs, one front leg hanging at its side, the other stretched
out like a hand. This feature Luther interprets as the gestures of a preacher,
with his head thrown back, his tongue out and his hand gesturing. The Monk
Calf thus depicted what kind of preacher the world had hitherto had to hear,
the apostle and pupil of the pope. Is it not fitting that the ass-headed pope
should have a calf-headed apostle'' The calf is also blind, recalling the warning
of Matthew 23.16: 'Woe to you blind guides.' The ear-like shapes of the
'cowl' signify the tyranny of confession, the tongue that monkish teaching is
nothing more than idle, useless gossip.
The two knobs on the head are a sign that the monks have only the
appearance of the Gospel: horns signify the Gospel and its preaching, but the
calf has only the merest hint of them. That the knobs are on the 'tonsure'
shows that the Gospel must conform to the tonsure that is to the will of the
monks. That the cowl is wound so tightly around th,e neck ;ignifies stubborn,
stiff-necked monkery; that it is closed behind but open at the front shows
that monks are only spiritual for the world, which stands behind them. The
lower jaw is like that of a human being, the upper that of a calf's snout. This
s~o~s the nature of their preaching of divine law, for the two lips should
SJgmfy the two kinds of preaching, the lower the divine law, the upper the
Gospel. But mstead of God's Word they preach the calf's snout, that is, their
own good. The calf is smooth all over, signifying their hypocrisy. Finally, that
It has now come forth from the cow means that they are revealed to the
whole world, and can no longer hide themselves.
Taken by itself, luther's interpretation of the Monk Calf could be seen as
the applic~tion of spiritual allegory to a natural phenomenon, and so as a
carefu~ avOidance of appeals to popular superstition. However, it was published
alongs_Ide_ Melanchthon's interpretation of the Papal Ass, a creature more lurid
~oth ~n Its _ap!'e~rance and in the interpretations which could be extracted
r?m It. This cunous monster was composed of an ass's head, a female torso
with one human hand and the other an animal limb. One leg ended in a hoof,
the other in a claw. It was covered in scales, with a dragon-like tail. This
IL
Popular belief 131
fantastic assembly of animal and human parts seems to have been invented in
Italy at the end of the fifteenth century as part of a campaign to exploit signs
and omens for political polemic. In particular, the original depiction of the
monster seems to have been directed against Alexander VI. The building fly.
ing the papal flag in the background is the Castel Santangelo, built as a fortifi-
cation by Alexander VI. The square tower on the right has been identified as
the Tor di nona, a tower across the Tiber used by Alexander VI as a papal
prison. Both were taken over unchanged in sixteenth-century copies of an
ltalian original. There was also a series of omens or portents throughout most
of the years of Alexander's reign which were interpreted in connection with
his rule. The alleged discovery of the monster in the Tiber after a flood in
1496 seems also to have been intended as an omen directed at him. The
monster was used to attack papal power, and may have been part of a pas-
quillade mocking Rome's pretensions as 'head of the world' at a time when
the papacy had suffered defeat by invading French forces 5 4
The depiction of the monster probably came to Germany via an engraving
by the Bohemian artist Wenzel von Olmutz, made before the end of the cen·
tury. It was doubtless used as propaganda for the Bohemian Brethren's
opposition to the papacy. In any case, it seems to have come to the attention
of Luther and Melanchthon from Bohemia, and Luther mentioned it late in
1522, perhaps also coining the name Papal Ass. Luther certainly had a hand
in reshaping Melanchthon's first published attempt at an interpretation in
order to make it accessible to as wide a public as possible. It attests both
Luther and Melanchthon 's firm belief in such signs and omens as not just
allegories, but genuine foreshadowings of future events. In his second Advent
sermon of 1521, luther stated that such a mass of signs as then appeared
would bring about things that reason could not imagine.ln 1525, he wrote of
a new monster that it fllled him with dread." Melanchthon began his expo-
sition of the Papal Ass with a reminder that God always revealed his favour or
disfavour in signs. In evidence, he pointed to Daniel 8.3 with its description
of the beast of the Antichrist, and to Matthew 24, with its rich description of
the signs of the last days. The Papal Ass was just that kind of sign, depicting
and exemplifying papal rule 5 6
Melanchthon interpreted the Papal Ass along lines similar to those used by
Luther for the Monk Calf. The whole stood for the papacy, the ass head for
the pope. The Church should have no bodily head, and the ass head on the
human torso was as fitting as the pope as head of the Church. The right hand
is an elephant's foot, signifying the spiritual power of the pope, With whiCh
he treads all consciences underfoot, for the right hand usually SJgnifies the
inward, the soul and the conscience, which should be ruled by the gentle rule
of Christ' not that of the ass head. The human left hand signifies the secular
power of the pope, something acquired only by human means. The right foot
is an ox foot, signifying the servants of the spiritual power who oppress the
132 Popular belief Popular belief 133
soul. These are the papal teachers, preachers, parsons, confessors and especially curiosity or thirst for sensation. It came, rather, from the conviction that
Scholastic theologians. The left foot resembles a griffin's claw, signifying the nature reflected the rule of God. Monsters were an infringement of nature
servants of the secular power of the pope, the canonists who repress the and so a perversion of God's creation. God permitted them as signs of dis-
whole world. The female belly and breasts signify the papal body, cardinals, order, although their essence was contrary to him. In this sense, there was a
bishops, priests, monks and like whorish folk who lead unashamed lives, just close relationship between monsters and sin. Sin was a disfigurement of God's
as the Papal Ass shows its naked female belly. image in man which transformed him into a monster. The monster thus stood
'The scales on the arms, legs and neck signify the secular princes. These close to the very origin of sin, the Devil, and the monster could itself become
cling to each other, and although they do not dare to protect open lusts and a visible expression of evil. 59 The monster motif could then be used to associ-
desires, signified by the parts they do not cover, they nonetheless tolerate ate the papacy and its supporters with the DeviL This process can be seen in
them, and hang the more firmly on the arms, legs and neck of the monster, the animal masks given to Luther's opponents, discussed in an earlier chap·
the papacy. Moreover they protect it, both as spiritual and secular power. The ter."' The mask fulfilled the function of transforming men temporarily into
old man's head on the rear of the beast signifies the decline and end of the monsters, but they could also turn into real monsters, something for which
papacy, that it will grow old and pass away. The dragon spewing out fire there was biblical authority in Daniel 4.33 61 Thus Lycosthenes cites a pre-
behind it is nothing other than the poisonous bulls and abusive books of the Reformation legend, according to which Pope Benedict IX was turned on his
papacy. Finally, that the beast was found dead in the Tiber indicates that the death-bed into a bear with an ass's tail, because during his life he had lived
papacy's end has come, that it was found in Rome is confirmation of all the like a wild beast. 62 The same notion was involved in the creation of the
foregoing interpretation. Throughout his explanation Melanchthon also theriomorphic shapes of Luther's opponents in the Lutheran Strebkatz.
relates the beast to descriptions of the Antichrist in Daniel 8, the beast which Murner, Eck, Lemp and the rest are changed into beasts by the Devil's
Daniel saw in a vision, and to Job 41, the vision of Behemoth and Leviathan. power. 63 In evangelical propaganda the role of the Devil in the creation of
The Papal Ass, Melanchthon argues, confirms and extends identification of such monsters is an integral part of its polemical appeaL
the papacy with the antichristian beasts described there. We can see this concept expressed in the depiction known as The Devil 's
The Monk Calf and the Papal Ass both show the importance of visual signs
in Reformation propaganda. Both descriptions depend for their exposition on
the printed word, but this is unthinkable without the visual representation of
the two figures. They provide an excellent example of the way in which a
visual text could be expounded orally for a non-literate reader by the use of
the printed text. However, they could also be detached from dependence on
the printed word as self-sufficient visual signs. This was done most noticeably
in Luther's Depiction of the Papacy of 1545, where the entire series of nine
illustrations was opened with the Papal Ass (ilL 99). The Latin caption men-
tions that the monster was found dead in the Tiber at Rome in 1496; the
German text contains the brief but essential message: 'What God himself holds
of the papacy is shown by this terrible picture. Everyone should therefore
shudder as he takes it to heart.' The iconic power of the image is adequately
captured in this short verse, its rhymed form easily committed to memory.
The propaganda value of the two works can be seen in the number of editions
published_ There were nine editions of both works together, five of the Papal
Ass on its own, and two of the Monk Calf alone_ There were also translations
in French and English of both works, a Dutch translation and a seventeenth-
century German edition of the Papal Ass. s7 Both monsters also passed into
collections, such as Lycosthenes Wunderwerck of 1557-'"
Such widespread interest in this kind of propaganda was probably a result
~s much o_t the appearance of the monsters themselves as of the allegorical
mterpretatton attached to them. However, this interest was not just idle
134 Popular belief
Bagpipe (ilL I 00). This shows a devil playing his tune through the ears and
nose of a monk, identified by his broad tonsure. But the basis of this illus-
tration is not a devil perched on a monk's shoulders. It is the monk as two-
headed monster, for the devil has grown into one creature with the monk
whom he uses as his instrument. The identity of the Devil with the monk as
monster became a commonplace of Reformation propaganda. It could be
indicated as simply as in the tiilepage of a work by Pamphilus Gengenbach
from 1522, showing a monk with large claws beneath his monastic habit (ill.
64
101) This kind of depiction itself probably went back to a popular pre·
Reformation proverb linking monks with the Devil. 'Misfortune has broad
feet, said the peasant, as he saw the monk coming.' 65 The representation of
monks as the Devil in disguise leads us to another feature of monsters in
propaganda. The notion of a mask could be turned around, and the humanity
of the opponent regarded as a mask hiding a monster underneath. This is the
thought involved in a famous broadsheet depicting Alexander VI (ill. I 02),
which had a flap that could be lifted up to reveal who the pope really was
(ilL I 03 ). 66
A more complex variant of the monster theme is found in an engraving by
Melchior Lorch from 1545, showing the pope as a monster (ill. 104). Here the
figure depicted is a two-headed demon. One is a human head with ass's ears,
the other an animal head, possihly that of a dog. It wields an uprooted tree-
IDirnrr
rcr
~atlig·~at
}ll)!ianuaein gertnen
lbpll
ill 'Jii 1\.IUIJ 3,Qffbn: 'X X Vlll.'ll:•g bee m...
nlh31Jsufh.:Jra'.u M.o.xx!I.
I 00 Th£' De vii's Bar:pipe, BM
101. Titl~pagc _toP. Gengenbach, Wieder Hailig Vatter Bapst
Adnanus ezn gentten ist (M. Ramminger, Augsburg, 1522), BL
Popular belief JJ5
stump as a dub, which has three cross branches signifying the papal cross.ln
its left hand it holds a papal key, which is shattered at the end, and rs
crowned with a papal tiara whose peak ends in a spiral of excrement. The
papal signs are completed by the slippers on its feet, bearing an embroidered
cross. The creature has a long demonic tail and bar-like wings, and from its
mouth flows a stream of flame, bearing reptiles, toads, lizards and snakes.
I
This appears to he a reference to the figures m Apocalypse 16.13, where the t
beast, the dragon and the false prophet release three foul spirits like frogs.
The beast stand:) astride a carpet of flames in which writhe suffering souls,
and this diabolical identitlcation is rounded off by a demon wearing a cardi-
nal's hat, seated on a papal bull, bottom right, on which it is defecating. The
bull bears the words 'Keep clear, God and IT'an, I and the Devil are the
lords. ' 67
This engraving draws on several traditions. rhe figure of the Wild :\fan,
found in popular superstition and in popular art and literature, is clearly
alluded to by the cluh and the matted, tufted hair which covers the monster.
The Wild Man had strong links to the demonic, so it was fitting to represent
the pope as both Wild Man and as demon 68 The ears recall the Papal Ass, but
I 02 Broadsheet on Pope Alexander VI, Munich Staat_sb~bliothek
103 Alexander VI Revealed as Devil, Munich Staatsbtbhoth{'!k
136 Popular helief
the two heads also allude to the monster as the embodiment of satanic evil,
seen in The Devil's Baxpipc. Finally, the figure is linked to the beast of the
Apocalypse, and so to the Antichrist. The written text, from the hand of
Luther, labels the pope as Wild Man, and contains a prayer that God will aid
man in the distress caused by papal condemnations.
The monster was an ambivalent figure, for it was both a sign and a direct
revelation. 69 As a sign it could connote a range of implied meanings, which
could only be unravelled by an allegorical interpretation, similar to allegorical
exposition of Scripture. However, it could also denote, revealing its true
nature without further exposition, similar to the 'literal' interpretation of
Scripture. Thus the Papal Ass and the Monk Calf revealed the papacy and
monkery as monstrous, without further recourse to the complex allegorical
readings of Luther and Mclanchthnn. Nonetheless, evangelical propaganda
exploited both features of the monster. It was more cautious about a third
feature, the prophetic purpose of monsters. 70 We have already seen the
prophetic emphasis in heavenly signs and omens, in conjunctions and comets.
Evangelical propaganda was no less cautious about the prophetic nature of
these phenomena, perhaps because it smacked too much of superstition. Two
other forms of prophecy were less cautiously treated, for both were more
104 M. Lorch, The Pope as Wild Man ( 1545), Dahlem
Popular belief 137
intrinsic to Lhe Christian tradition than the other signs. These were mystical
visions and mystical prophecy.
There was an exceptional interest in mystical visions during the years just 1
before the Reformation. The visions of St Bridget of Sweden exercised a 1
strong influence on art, especially painting, while visionaries such as St
Hildegard of Bingen were part of the stock repertoire of popular prophecy in
the later fifteenth century 71 These found a ready market in popularised I
printed form during the early decades of the sixteenth century. 12 Visions also
played an important part in occurrences such as the movement of the
Drummer of Niklashausen, where Hans Boheim claimed to have had a vision
of the Virgin, or in the notorious Jetzer fraud in Berne, where a Franciscan
claimed to have had a vision of Christ, in which he received the stigrnata. 73 A
vision which attracted attention in Reformation circles, and which was
adapted for propaganda purposes, was that of the fifteenth-century Swiss
hermit Nikolaus von der Fltihc, or Brother Claus. A small booklet about
Brother Claus published shortly after his death in 1488 contained an enig-
matic diagram of his reputed vision. ?4
It consisted of two concentric circles joined by six spear-shaped spokes,
like spokes of a wheel joining the outer rim to the hub. The tips of the spokes
pointed alternately towards and away from the inner circle or hub. Later in
the same work, in an attempt to interpret this device allegorically, a bearded
face wearing a crown was placed inside the inner circle (ill. I 05). The spears
lOS Illustration to Bruder Claus [P. Wagner, Nuremberg,
1490], BL !A 8022, fol. A5v
138 Popular belief Popular belief 139

were now arranged so that three points emanated from the eyes and mouth of
the face, the three blunt ends, however, merely from the edge of the inner
circle, one rising through the crown. Each spear led to a roundcl illustration
intended to provide a pious explanation of the vision, which was taken to
symbolise the works of corporal mercy_ 75
In 1503 a Parisian professor of theology, Charles Bouvelles, visited the
hermit's cell, and described the vision in a letter published in 1511, with a
woodcut illustration. Although clearly modelled on the earlier depiction, it
introduced small significant changes. The inner circle disappeared, leaving
only the face in a large circle. The simple crown became a triple tiara and the
beard was forked in three. The spears emanated from the eyes and mouth as
before, but the three blunt ends now emerged from the two nostrils and the
forehead, and resembled rays of light, made plausible by what seemed to be
rays emanating from the pupils of the eyes. Bouvelles had sought an interpret-
ation of this vision from an acquaintance, Nikolaus Horius, Bishop-elect of
Rheims, who interpreted the face to signify a cruel ruler, perhaps a pope. The
sword emanating from the forehead stuck into the cross, and so showed his
opposition to Christ. The points sticking into the eyes signified that he was
hlinded by greed and unchastity, the blunt ends in his nostrils his indifference
to heavenly things, which he could not smell. The point entering his lips indi-
cated his unwillingness to proclaim the Word of God. That the swords had no
three swords hJvc no beginnings, and signify the spirit and the Gospel, which
strike the papacy in the face. That coming into his mouth from below is the
Word of God, whtch punishes his lying human teaching and opposes his
hypocrisy. The point in his right eye is the Word striking at the papacy's
spiritual power, that in the left at the secular power. That the figure has no
body signifies that Christ and his Church do not adhere to the papacy, nor
recognise it for its head, although it must suffer under him. The three-forked
beard signifies the three groups which do adhere to the papacy: the hypocrites,
such as the monks, nuns and priests; the scholars, such as the jurists and
theologians; and the powerful, such as the princes. But they only hang there
and do not touch neck or body, a sign that they do not belong to him, but to
the Church. That the swords are without handles sigmfies that the pope
depends on sayings taken from Scripture, possibly an allusion to the Word
being like a sword;but they are broken, just as the pope breaks and mutilates
Scripture. 79
This work made far less impact as evangelical propaganda than the Papal
Ass. It saw only two editions in 1528, and when two broadsheets on the
vision of Brother Claus were produced, they preferred to adopt the interpret·

~tngeOcbte~:ul'
handles signified that his vices could not be removed without injuring him,
and so arousing his anger. The three-forked beard Horius interpreted to mean
that this figure was the cause of evil which would befoul all people.'" l!orius'
tlcr £lauren ynn 9cbwcyn
interpretation was given in 1508, and seems to have contributed to forming
the conviction in Bouvelles' mind that the messianic age was imminent. In '\"'lltl fclnc ocu•
1509 he wrote to Cardinal Ximinez of Spain, proclaiming the coming of a runge.
great reforming pope, and he attempted to inspire his Spanish friends with his
prophetic excitement. 77
This vision was taken up by Luther in 1528, after a friend had brought
Bouvelles' work to his attention. Luther published a small pamphlet, with an
illustration of the vision, the various letters from Bouvelles and Horius, the
letter from his friend Speratus which called his attention to it, and his own
interpretation."' In Luther's version (ill. 106), the illustration has undergone
a further change. The outer circle has become two circles close together, the
rays are now unmistakably sword points, and two of them now emanate from
the corners, not the pupils of the eyes_ For Luther, the vision now represents
not a pope, but the papacy- The angry features signify the tyrannical, mur-
derous and bloody rule of the papacy, which rules both body and soul with
force_ The sword from the top of the head signifies human teaching, invented
hy the human brain, which is against Christ's teaching and strikes at the Word MDXXVIII,
of the cross. The sword from the right nostril is spiritual power, that from the
106 Titlepage to Ein gesichte Bruder Clausen ynn Schweytz
left secular law; both are angry laws, for the nose signifies anger. The other
(N. Schirlentz, Wittenberg, 1528), BL
 140 Popular belief
Populi1r belief 141
ation given by Horius rather than that of Luther 80 This tells us something of
importance about visual propaganda. interpretation of the vision required
pictorial representation, but Luther's was far too allegorical. It could not he
married to an equally effective literal interpretation which could stand beside
the longer and more elaborate literary exposition. The Horius' version simply
related the vision to "some high spiritual prince' --- in the broadsheet, to 'the
high spiritual prince'. This seems to refer to the pseudo-pope who was one of
the manifestations of the Antichrist. This was more direct and accessible to
the unlettered viewer than Luther's intricate allegory. In the last resort, how-
ever, it was probably less successful as an image because it was less of a
curiosity, and far less sensational than the fantastic monster.
The vision of Brother Claus shows how persistent belief in popular and
mystical prophecies was during the first half of the sixteenth century. In
dealing with the vision, Luther believed that he was explaining a genuinely
prophetic work. Far from seeing it as incompatible with his desire to restore
true religion and remove superstition, he saw it as confirmation of the right-
ness of the evangelical movement. A similarly 'genuine' prophecy is seen in
the work by Albrecht Durer known as The Michelfeld Tapestry (ill. I 07).
This is in the form of a Bi/derbogen, in three scenes set on six blocks, intended
to be joined together into a long frieze. 81 In a text about the central panel,
DUrer claimed to have seen the scenes depicted in a tapestry discovered in
1524 in a castle on the Rhine. It had been produced, he argued, a hundred
years before, and revealed what the ancients had foreseen about DUrer's time.
Although no Castle Michelfeld can be traced, Durer does seem to have
worked from an original tapestry. It was nowhere near one hundred years old,
but may have dated from the end of the fifteenth century. This does not
reduce the prophetic force it was regarded as possessing for interpretation of
the events of the early sixteenth century. The wi!Jingness to accept the reality
of such prophecies combined with the 'discovery' of such works as the tapestry
or the vision of Brother Claus to create firm conviction in their genuineness.
The Brother Claus vision, of course, still had to be interpreted. The Michelfeld
Tapestry, on the other hand, was self-evident in its meaning.
The series of scenes is opened at the left by the wheel of fortuoe. Three
ignoble birds are on top, the jay, the pheasant and the crow, which wears a
crown in honour of its supreme position at the very peak of the wheel's
course. At the bottom are the noble birds, the eagle, the falcon and the pea·
cock. Time turns the wheel. but this is resisted by the figure of the fox to the
left. Besides the connotation of cunning usually attached to the fox, this
creature is given overtones of sexual licence through its erect male member.
Thus, the ignoble not only rule. but fleshly vice seeks to stay the course of
time to maintain that rule.
The next scene represents the estates- the knight and the noble, and seen
between these two, the burgher, with the round high hat, the artisan, repre·
107 A. Durer, The Micheltf/d Tapestry, BM
142 Popufllr belief
sen ted by a smith with his hammer and tongs and the peasant with the flail.
They regard the central scene where Justice, Truth and Reason sit locked in
the stocks. Justice has her hands bound to a rod, thus preventing her using
her scales and sword. Truth has her lips sealed with a padlock, while Reason
has her hands pinioned to the stocks. To their left sits the figure of Deceit,
enthroned and ruling with a rod the three virtues imprisoned in the stocks
and the infant figure of Piety swaddled in a cradle at his feet. He holds one
end of a banderole, which attributes to him the words written above the
virtues: 'With my agility I have subjected Justice, Reason and Truth.' The
representatives of the estates protest about this state of affairs: 'Deceit,
burden us not so. Piety has slumbered too long. Awake her, or it will go hard
for you.' The estates thus call for the revival of piety and warn Deceit of his
fate once it has been awakened. In expectation, Truth and Reason have their
eyes turned toward the cradle.
To the right of Deceit are two figures representing secular and spiritual
law, the first an advocate with his high cap, the second a canon holding his
breviary. These speak the words, addressed to Deceit: 'Lord, we hear your
words willingly. We desire to learn in your school.' The law is thus the willing
pupil of deception. These two have their backs turned on the final figure of
the series, who is identified as Divine Providence. This figure stands with
folded arms, rays darting from his eyes in a shape similar to a nimbus. The
inscription embodies the nee-platonic idea that all creation is an emanation of
the eternal light of the divine. The figure is divine justice, which both secular
and spiritual law ignore in favour of deceit. Taken as a whole, the depiction
expresses the sense of grievance against injustice dominant in the I 520s, and
the hope placed in a revival of piety to redress this. Cunning and vice have
brought the ignoble to dominance, but hope reposes in slumbering piety,
which time will bring to maturity as the wheel turns again. It could thus be
read as a prophecy of hope, that the reign of deceit will come to an end. The
striking figure of divine justice signifies that the time is at hand, adding an
eschatological note to the whole composition.
DUrer's propaganda for the new ideas was less polemical than many of our
examples. He was content to evoke a mood - in this case the mood of
prophetic expectation attached to revival of piety. Other wo,rks were more
polemical in tone, although they too bore the stamp of the apocalyptic out·
look of the t1me. One of the most interesting can be seen in the small booklet
published in 1527 by the Nuremberg pastor Andreas Osiander the Wondrous
Pro~h_e~:v of the Papacy. 82 This was based on a pseudo-J oachimist work, the
Vatzctma de summis puntijicihus, two copies of which Osiander discovered in
~uremberg libr~ries. _The work consists of two sets of illustrated prophecies.
Eac~ set contams fifteen pictures, each picture representing a pope, accom-
pame~ by a key phrase and an enigmatic description. These prophecies
mentiOned holy and unholy popes, and referred also to future popes, intended
Popular belie( 143
to represent the Antichrist. The sequence of popes is arranged roughly chrono-
logically, with the antichristian popes at the end oft he second set. Somehow
both sets were merged into one collection, but with the later set first, so that
the antichristian popes to come were placed in the middle of the collection.
The entire series was then interpreted merely to p10phesy a series of angelic
popes.sJ
Osiander seem~ to have paid little heed to the commentary in the edition
he discovered. He interpreted it according to Lutheran views, reshaping the
prophecy completely to fit the needs of evangelical propaganda. As the basis
of his edition he retained only the thirty pictures, added a new, brief com-
mentary for each, with an accompanying verse by Hans Sachs. This raises the
question of how seriously Osiander took the prophetic nature of the original.
His preface to his 1527 edition certainly sounds a sceptical note. Christians
should be adequately informed from holy Scripture of things that are to
come, but in the strange times in which they now live men look more to
human words and prophecies than to those of God. This is proved by the
great interest aroused by the prophecy of Johann Lichtenberger (who had
foretold, on the basis of a conjunction of 1484, the coming oi a monk who
would cause a revolution in the Church Luther's birth date wa~ 1483~).
Osiander therefore publishes this prophecy so that, even if men ignore God's
own prophecy, they may turn away from human pmphecies.B4 This work
will help them to do so. The preface thus remains ambiguous about whether
the work is to be regarded as human prophecy' or as something more reli-
able; however, Osiander continues as if it were clearly the latter.!!s
Osiande1 explicitly envisages the work as a pictorial prophecy, one
expressed 'not in words, but in pictures alone'. He has dispensed with the
written text because the pictures are older than it and, as has often been the
case, the prophecy has thereby been misunderstood. To aid the simple, an
interpretation has been supplied, but all people of reason will see plainly what
it means without any exposition. In sum, it shows the progress of the papacy
from the time it became a tyranny until the end of the world. It thus
becomes a pictorial history of the papacy with a prophetic gloss. Although its
impact is best understood through reproduction of the whole series, space
dictates that only a selection can be illustrated here. The argument of those
omitted we can refer to in summary. Pictures 1 3 argue that the pope has
turned away from the Holy Spirit and placed his trust in warriors. He becomes
a secular prince with his own power, and represses the emperor with the aid
of France. His courtiers hold him back from following God's Law.
In picture 4 (ill. JOH) the pope has the emperor by the neck, and holds the
other princes down with his triple sceptre, that is, his power to bind and loose.
The monk behind him signifies that he seeks to uphold this power with
Scripture. ln picture 5, Satan speaks to the pope from a bush, as God did to
Muses. The pope has rejected God's Law, but finds that he cannot rule with-
144 Popular helief Popular belief 145

out law, so he receives new laws from the hand of Satan. The pope then
abandons piety and justice for a sinful life and, moved by Satan, upholds
injustice in return for rich gifts. Meanwhile, the secular powers are content to
look on and merely to defend themselves, rather than to punish the pope as is
fitting (pictures 6 H). The pope uses the keys of the law according to the
Devil's instructions, forcing the Holy Spirit to flee, while the sword of false
doctrine issuing from the pope's mouth wounds the lamb of Christ, the Word
and eternal truth (picture 9, m. 109).
The pope now sets his own power above that of the emperor but, not
content with this, he also invokes spiritual Law. He thus represses the imperial
crown, persecutes the Gospel and uses his keys to gain riches. His worldly
sword he entrusts to ravening wolves, who wield it as the flaying knife of
deceit (pictures I 0-12). The pope is now as self-satisfied as the peacock, but
God condemns him secretly, so that his word no longer binds before God. He
is deposed and the world may attack him - but only with spiritual weapons
(pictures 13-14 ). When attacked with the sword of the spirit, the Word, it is
clear that the pope is the beast of Apocalypse 12 and 16. It has a fair coun-
tenance in front, but is cunning behind - but its jaws are bloodied from
biting the sharp edge of the Word (picture 15, ill. 110). Knowing that he can
defend himself with Scripture no longer, the pope surrounds himself with
warriors. The Word disputes with the Devil while the pope looks on anxiously
(pictures 16-17).
Osiander's exposition now moves from allegorical ro historical interpret-
ation. The pope, hearing confession, is attacked by that most placid of
beasts, the unicorn, which knocks off his tiara, a challenge to confession and
indulgences (picture 18, ill. Ill). The next picture (ill. 112) depicts the
opposition to the pope, based on three strong pillars. The horn is the Word in
God's hand, the monk is he who preaches the Word, the king is secular auth-
ority which takes the Word to heart and protects the monk. These references
to luther are made explicit in the next picture (ill. 113), which ideotifies the
monk. The rose is luther's heraldic emblem, the sickle signifies that he cuts
down the fleshly, shown by the severed leg. But he will ignite the love of
Christ again, using the branding-iron.
The next five pictures (21 25) are related even more closely to historical
events. The patient folk, signified by an ox, have long borne the burden of
papal financial exactions without complaint. Now they learn from God's
Word that this is unjust, and refuse to bear it any longer. When the pope
refuses to hear them, they are changed from the patient ox into the angry
bear, with all the ugly impatience of the common folk. To appease this
impatience, a Reichstag was called at Worms, but human not divine law ruled
there, under the influence of troops. But the mandate from Worms was with-

. - - - - - - - - - -.. roeilm41t:tlal
b.lp~mlt tom~
fntm!J<'fch-
rbbUg~
b.tDijllftlt got
trll rcort, b<l• d
!Jnlg~gujillul
rrh t'll~fnong~
!U~tgm gt[rf)il
d't'C!Inb ntwn

h. !!fd)i<b~fo 'f9n O'Jot:tgl'e'flfet m1

mit fnntrtii\OOI'tfuruberotl.m
l:lrnn tlllrb rntb«f't tior;1..dwnt!)c1\lr
108 Illustration in f.Yn wu.nderliche Weyssagu.ng J..'on dem l:lu r:rr.,ngrcn'llljl~g~r.
Bfalp.rBtum (H. Gu1denmundt, Nuremberg, 1527), BL 3906.bb.40, lij
o . 1r
110 Eyn wunderliche Weyssagung, fol. C~r
109 Eyn wunderliche Weyssagung, fol. Biii r II I Eyn wunderliche Weyssagung, foL Cm v
146 Popular belief
out force, for God's Word was stronger. Two further Reichstags were held at
Nuremberg, where God's Word prevailed, as can be seen in the Recesses from
these meetings. In these affairs, the papal side was led hy the pope's courtiers,
the foxes Eck, Emser, Alfeld, Faber, Cochleus, etc., but so unskilfully that
even more about papal rule was revealed to all.
The last five pictures now move to future events, arguing that the prophecy
so far has been fulfilled by historical fact. It secures, therefore, credence for
its further predictions. The pope will be robbed of all his power, and sit so
naked and alone that even the poor peasant will mock him. He must finally
confess that he is not a lord, but only a servant of the flock, and must give up
his crown to his sheep. God will set other folk in the apostolic office, but the
crown will then signify all the virtues of the Spirit. When this is done, the
servants of the Word would be honoured by the world once more, and a
Christian rule set up which would last until Christ came. Then all the servants
of the Word would return their power to Christ, who would have all power on
earth and in heaven.
Osiander's pamphlet is thus a remarkable attempt to shape the pseudo-
Joachimist original into a prophecy of the evangelical movement, in the pro·
cess providing it with prophetic legitimation. This legitimation is twofold: the
old prophecy is fulfilled to date in the appearance of Luther and subsequent
events of the 1 520s, and the evangelical movement is a promise of the apoca-
lyptic fulness of all things, leading to the last age before the coming of Christ.
Popular belief 147
To achieve this result Osiander had to reinterpret the original, but he also had
to reshape some of the pictures to suit his exposition. The most noticeable
case is picture 20 (see ill. I 13). Compared to the original Italian edition which
Osiander used, the branding iron has been substituted for a large letter B (ill.
114), while the monk has been given the habit appropriate to Luther's Order.
Similarly, the previous illustration in the series has been altered, by placing
the horn in the hand on top of the third column, instead of what appears to
be a blade in the original. The horn has then been placed in the ear of the
monk, something not at all indicated in the Italian edition. and the monk has
been given a cowl similar to that of Luther's Order. 86
The Wondrous Prophecy shares the characteristics of other works of propa-
ganda seeking to invoke the apocalyptic mood of the time. Whether dealing
with comets, conjunctions, omens. monsters, visions or prophecies they were
ambiguous about the amount of credence to be given to such phenomena.
Reformation aversion to superstition led to attempts at spiritual interpret-
ation, but these depended enough on literal belief in such signs for the matter
to remain ambivalent. Thus, evangelical propaganda did not break with pre~
Reformation apocalyptic feeling, hut rather exploited it. In terms of the
religious emotions it aroused. the propaganda confirmed and extended these
elements of popular belief. This is proved convincingly hy two themes which
are of sufficient importance to deserve separate treatment in the next chapter:
the Antichrist and the world turned upside-down.
,,
I 14 Illustration to Joachimi abbatis Vaticinio (Bologna,
15!5), BL 38.l6.b.37, fol. Dii r

6 he was to be regarded as a single person or as a collectivity. Second, the
ANTICHRIST AND THE WORLD
TURNED UPSIDE-DOWN
The Antichrist is one of the most fascinating figures of late-medieval popular
thought, and illustrates the very broad penumbra between official faith and
doctrine and popular belief. In essence, the Antichrist was a diabolical answer
to the incarnation, for he was the antithesis of Christ, his personal history a
black parody of the Saviour's.' He is born in Babylon from the tribe of Dan,
the son of a whore and the Devil. like Christ, he spends his youth away from
the place of his birth, and is brought up by witches and magicians who initiate
him into the black arts. At the age of thirty he goes to Jerusalem and is
circumcised. He proclaims Jesus to be a fraud and himself to be the true
messiah, convincing the Jews of this claim by promising to revive the Mosaic
Law. He rebuilds the destroyed temple in three days, sets up his throne there
and proclaims himself as God. Through miracles, bribes and force, he quickly
gains a huge following, but his rule lasts only three and a half years. During
this time he is not unopposed. God sends two prophets, Enoch and Elias, to
preach against him, but he slays them. In parody of Christ, he stages a fake
death and resurrection, but in trying to ape Christ's ascension from Mount
Olivet, he meets his end. He is overcome and slain by the archangel Michael,
and thrust down into hel1. 2
The origins of this legend are found in the obscure history of early
Christianity, but its biblical foundations were strong enough for it to seem
plausible to the Christian middle ages. It drew so skilfully on the classic
apocalyptic texts - the Book of Daniel, 2 Thessalonians and the Apocalypse
,, - that theologians of the calibre of Aquinas and Bonaventure felt obliged to
l sort out the acceptable from the unacceptable parts of the story. For example,
the~ rejected the belief that the Antichrist was born of a virgin as an un-
fittmg parallel to Christ. They were also in some doubt about his miracles. If
they were not fake mi~acles, they were worked by the power of the Devil.
G1v~n the senousness With wh1ch such prominent theologians took the Anti-
christ,. we need ?at be surprised that he looms so large in popular belief.
Behef m the Antichrist reached such a pitch that it could even be spoken of
as an article of faith. 3
Interest .in the legend was certainly stimulated by any kind of eschato-
log~cal feehng, for the Antichrist was intimately linked to the last days. His
appearance "a Sign that the last days are at hand, his defeat indicates that the
end _of the world is nigh. The identification of the Antichrist and his exact
relatiOn to the last days, however, remained extremely vague, despite the
148
Antichrist and the world turned upside-down 149
precision with which his biography was set out. First, it was unclear whether
appearance of the Antichrist could signify either that the world would end
with his defeat, or that this defeat would inaugurate the millennium before
the end of the world. These ambiguities helped to keep the legend fresh in the
minds of medieval Christians, for it was always possible to show its relevance
to the time at hand. 4
By the end of the fifteenth century, he was as common a figure in popular
religious thought as the Devil. He appeared in at least three fifteenth-century
religious dramas, and even in a carnival play, an indication that he was familiar
enough to invite jest. lie forms the subject of several editions of the block-
book, the forerunner of the popular picture book, where his history was
linked to the fifteen signs of the last days. He is mentioned in numerous
popular prophecies at the beginning of the sixteenth century, features in
works by popular writers such as Brant and Geiler von Kaisersberg, and turns
up on the very eve of the Reformation in Pam phil us Gengenbach's rhymed
prophetic work of 1517, The Nollhart. A Latin summary of his life appeared
in nine printed editions between 1473 and 1505. 5
The Antichrist was just as popular with the broad stream of heterodox and
oppositional Christianity dating from the Franciscan Spirituals and Joachimite-
influenced movements of dissent. In this tradition, he is mentioned in the
Onus E{:desiae, a semi-prophetic, Joachimist work critical of the state uf the
Church, written around 1519 and first published in 1524. The Hussites also
gave the Antichrist a prominent place in their thought. He was discovered
among the Catholic clergy and in individual popes. They did not go so far as
to identify the Antichrist with the papacy, but they did conceive of a dia-
bolical antithesis to the mystical body of Christ, the corpus mysticum Anti-
christi. If Hussite writers did not ~~ree whether the Antichrist was an indivi-
dual or an aggregate personality, a person or a mystical tendency, they did
agree that the Antichrist was thriving under the papacy. 6
The figure is found in the evangelical movement from its earliest days. He
provided the basis of the most successful work of visual propaganda produced
by the Reformation, Lucas Cranach's Passional Christi und Antichristi. As
one of Luther's dusest friends, the Saxon court painter was close to the
central ideas of the Reformation from its inception. In May 1521 he created
the small illustrated pamphlet composed of twenty-six woodcuts, each with a
brief commentary written by Philipp Melanchthon. Much of the inspiration
for the work can be found in Luther's manifestos of 1520, but the central
theme of the booklet was extremely simple. A Passional was a small picture
book depicting scenes from the life of Christ or the saints for pious meditation
by the unlearned. Cranach adapted this idea to juxtapose the life of Christ
with that of the Antichrist, the pope. In thirteen contrasting pairs of wood-
cuts the reader could see for himself the difference between the two. The first
 15() Antichrist and the world turned upside-down
in each pair depicts a scene from the life of Christ, amplified hy a written
text, usually a passage from Scripture. The second presents a similar scene
from the life of the pope, amplified by passages from papal decretals and
explanatory comments by Melanchthon. 7 This work was of such significance
for the major themes of evangelical visual propaganda that it is worth extensive
analysis.
The first pair of woodcuts depicts Christ fleeing the Jews' attempt to make
him their kmg, while the pope is shown defending his claims to secular rule
with cannon and sword (ills. 115-16). This claim, 'vlelanchthon tells us, is
upheld by the spurious Donation of Constantine, the document on which
papal secular power was based. It had been exposed as a forgery by the ltaliao
humanist Lorenzo Valla, and the exposure popularised in Germany in 1520
1·' by Ulrich von Hutten. Valla's work had some influence in confirming Luther's
belief that the pope and the papacy were the Antichrist, and frequent refer-
ence is made to the forgery throughout Melanchthon's commentary.' The
ironic contrast in the first pair of woodcuts is developed further in the second.
Christ is crowned with thorns, while the pope is crowned with the triple tiara,
the sign of his secular power, said to be inherited from Constantine. Extend-
Antichrist and the world fumed upside-down !51
ing the contrast again, the antithesis between Christian humility and worldly
pride forms the basis of the third set. Christ washes the feet of his disciples,
while the pope presents his foot for princes and kings to kiss 9
The message of the fourth set is Jess visual. It states, largely through the
printed text, that Christ commanded in Matthew 15 paying the authorities
their dues, a command echoed in Romans 13. The pope, however, claims
exemption for all his followers. Wo1se, he orders the interdict on those who
follow Christ's command by levying tax on clerical persons or their property .10
Tho fifth antithesis depicts Christ among the poor and lame, emphasising the
humility of Christ in taking the form of a servant. The pope is shown pre-
siding in princely state over a tournament. The commentary gives a national-
ist twist to the contrast. The pope considers it beneath his dignity to humble
himself, believing that the humble man brings contempt upon his government.
Such an argument is fit only for fools, Melanchthon comments, but the pope
must think Germans to be fools, to try to rule them as he docs.n
In the sixth set, Jesus tells his disciples that whoever wishes to follow him
must take up his cross and do so. So Christ and his followers go their way on
foot, but the pope carries his cross in quite a different fashion, being borne
aloft in princely state (ills. 117 18). Melanchthon's ironic comment is that
117 Passional Christi und Antichristi, fol. Bii v
118 Passional Christi und Antichristi, fol. Biii r
 Antichrist and the world turned upside-down Antichrist and the world turned upside-down 153
/52
12
this shows how willingly the pope suffers the cross of adversity. The next go poor into the world with the papal command that no bishop should pre-
pair contrasts starkly Christ preaching the kingdom of God, while the pope, side over any but a great town, and that he should be given sufficient pro·
who has forgotten this duty, feasts in a royal manner (ills. 119-20). The vision, worthy title and great honour.
humble origins of Christ are recalled in the eighth set, showing a nativity. The The eleventh pair turns to the question of external religious observance. It
depicts the scene in which the pharisees murmured against Christ's disciples
pope is shown, however, armed and ready to wage war against a town. Such
for eating with unclean hands. Christ reminded them that the kingdom of
are the lengths to which the pope will go, the commentary informs us, to
God was not in externals, but within us. In keeping the laws of men, such as
ensure clerical possession of property - he is willing to spill Christian blood,
papal disciplinary laws, one may transgress the laws of God. The pope is
and even to overturn civil authority. Authorities who imprison clergy will
shown seated on his throne, issuing commands about such externals. The
find that the pope releases their subjects from their oaths of obedience, and
commentary asserts that papal law is wholly concerned with externals-- the
he will allow the defence of clerical goods with the secular as well as the
ordering of clothes, tonsures, feast days, con~ccrations, benefices, monkish
spiritual sword. 13
sects and priests. Yet the clergy call themselves and the property Christ's
The ninth set provided a contrast which became a stock antithesis between
Church, and regard themselves as the elect of God, just as if the laity were not
Christ and the pope (ills. 121-2). Christ's peaceful entry into Jerusalem on
in the Church. 15 The twelfth set provides another vivid pictorial contrast (ills.
the ass is opposed to the pope riding in state on a steed, claiming that he had
123 -4). Christ drove the money-changers from the temple, the commentary
this right from the emperor, and that it placed him above the emperor. The
tells us, but the pope has come to take their place. One sees the pope pre-
two soldiers accompanying him indicate the military measures he is willing to
siding over the sale of indulgences in a church. The identification as Antichrist
take to uphold the right, although the demons in the top right-hand corner
4 is underlined in the commentary with direct biblical evidence: the Antichrist
suggest that this is also a papal ride to hell, similar to that in illustration 49l
• sits in God's temple, displaying himself as God. As Daniel foretold, he alters
The tenth pair contrasts Christ's injunction to his disciples that they should

~amnnal ~lm1h uun

21nri4nifh.
l)if: lftffitibn rnnc 4litroiiJ1iiJt'P'lnb b.llf3"t!Jrr!t h"! pL1am
lllft"mropffi.II'IJ(II:tq .•.
iDa' l!Mpjlm4~gkfib wiftlc~lftr rtrttmrii tta-rr,t.rql
'""'~~Jaalant~ fq""d>offhlba ~•!til gcto~LI nl4lllJdhWI
bet tl7ftbr c. 'onffanCinul•tt , c. 6 . tlt(.
1:1n 7:mr/f4f Allm "kfqn mt1 ~ voll'f•or~r-.:!111
ae•Jot~nniul, ~il
~w,JI) . . . . . . . . .
121 Passional Christi und Antichristi, fol. Ci v
11 9 Pass~ono.l Christi und Antichristi, fol. Biii v 122 Passional Christi und Antichristi, fol. Cii r
120 Pa.sszon.al Christi und Antichristi, fol. B4 r

:i
ji

154 Antichrist and the wvrld turned upside-duwn
all divine ordinances, suppresses holy Scripture, and sells dispensations,
indulgences, palliums and bishoprics. He dissolves marriages, makes laws and
then breaks them in return for suitable payment; he raises up saints, burdens
consciences, blesses and damns to the fourth generation, and demands that
his voice be heard just as that of God. 16
This quasi-scriptural summary of the Antichrist's activities provides a con-
text for the final pair of woodcuts, the fate of Christ and Antichrist (ills.
125-6). While Christ ascends to the Father in heaven. the Antichrist is dis-
patched to hell. The last picture in the work is that most clearly influenced
by iconographical representation of the legend, where his attempt to imitate
Christ's ascension is defeated in mid-flight, and the Antichrist is thrust down
into hell. We can see what appears to be almost a direct model for Cranach's
depiction in an illustration from Schedel's World Chronicle of 1493 (ill.
127)n On the left the Antichrist is preaching, inspired by the Devil; on the
right, Enoch and Elias preach against him. In the centre is Mount Olivet, from
which he attempted his ascension to heaven, and above it is depicted his fall.
Cranach has taken over only the fall for the second half of his antithesis,
and suggested the attempted ascension by showing Christ's ascension as the
;;.,.,. .._,,.._gooo,._P"'"" ...
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123 Passional Christi und A ntichristi, fol. C4 v
124 Passional Christi und Antichristi, fol. Di r
! I
Antichrist and the world rurned upside-down 155
other half. The new element in the schema is the identification of the falling
Antichrist as the pope.
This little book is an extremely complex work, which presents the reader
leafrng through its pages with themes on several levels. At its simplest, it is a
Passional; indeed, it can be seen as an illustrated morality play, its scenes not
unlike those which would have been familiar to the common man from the
religious drama of the day . 18 The Christian virtues of humility, simplicity and
unworldliness are opposed by the vices of pride, pomp and desire for
possession. So much could have been read adequately from the visual text
alone. At a second level, visual and printed text present a religious message,
the difference between true Christianity and false. The religion of Christ is
contrasted to that of human laws and externals. The testimony of the Word
of God in Scripture is opposed to that of the pope in canon law and to the
mendacious Donation of Constantine. A third theme found in both visual and
printed text is the highly emotive issue of anticlericalism. Throughout the
work, this most potent cause of social discontent is singled out for criticism -
the privileged position of the clergy, upheld by papal law, backed by the
sanction of the ban, the interdict and even war.
)11Tlft11l!ffibttl tJfrrauffg~8md b1f lNld'oTI:!46m~nn ll:tiflcrgriffin ~ 134h~ mmit "ts fo~lflhP•op~ tta h~tb
f•Gtf@l d}4n~ bonuta ~rfwtrl}l:lt'bitffo fhyn l)ryr;N
tlLnrll~f:TDIOmmm,o rUI'l~U~~l. Di~rtJr/U6t'ttrt"On ··udJ
fll buiTitld 41ltf!fnromrTinfllf' tl'lll>~ alfo r."fbtr r.-rmni !"it
fL'Onymt)lnOmmt"l ,·l;'ltbfn,: Sdbr4uf!rGtt Srfu! lltlfrndt'n:
~lnlftr brltfr~»u·ed fdl-ffttt'CII'Ibft'f•Jtl gn~:~btmlt bnn
~l't'•m g<(,l}mb.l8rr:;n fmmnd.fiJ<lrm . .?lrr . 1. 8rrn rt"'J'dl ha~
rei II ,,,be '!.n<r 1. nm· b_., maDwrr t'i! n.•rrl' nrrr rrlld:l t:~f!\[11 f~OdtNrOO ~1:iffimM?ffe~•rtCrl'>t• t>.•o ~118l'i-p1l
rnmxl*·
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lll'lrb1otftu6.1• rt'rrl:orn t'toa'
f~knn an'Jbfbn' ~m )quP k'tro\11!11 t-tln >mrn
~rn&rnbce IUIIb aw« ,..,florrJot.ltlrt4J~ugiQII frr••n tJ~
runtlt·'· M ~a.:r..
125 Passional Christi und A ntichristi, fol. Di v
126 Passional Christi und Antichristi, fol. Dii r
156 Antichrist and the world turned upside..<fown
A fourth theme had an even stronger emotional appeal than social anti-
clericalism, the depiction of papal pretensions to empire, to political
supremacy and to over-riding secular power. The papal claim to be the direct
heir of the Roman emperors could not fail to arouse those who felt so
strongly about Roman exploitation of Germany and the German Church.
German political mythology had long taught the direct descent of the Holy
Roman Empire of the German Nation from Charlemagne, from the Roman
Empire, sometimes, indeed, from Adam himself. 19 Cranach's work drove
home the antipathy between this tradition and the claims of the papacy, and
set it in a broader religious context of the struggle between true and false
belief_ A fifth theme is almost subliminal. Throughout the work there is a
running attack on warfare as unfitting to the Christian, echoing the vibrant
propaganda against war of Erasmus of Rotterdam. In print and in picture, the
pope is continually associated with war or warlike things. War is thus the
instrument of the Antichrist, and it is shameful for Christians to resort to its
use.
The final theme is the identitlcation of the Antichrist. This is achieved in
two ways. The reader is presented with cumulative evidence of how the life
127 Illustration in H. Schedel, Buch der Chroniken
(A. Koberger, Nuremberg, 1493), BL IC 7458 fol cclix v finally, a doctrinal contrast, the freely given grace of Christ with the indul-
Antichrist and the world turned upside-down 157
of the pope is contrary to that of Christ. This essentially visual contrast is
then driven home by the commentary which shows how such behaviour is
antichristian. The last pair of illustrations provide the conclusive proof, show~
ing the pope visually as the Antichrist. All these themes, existing side by side
in the work, making their point simultaneously at different levels, explain
why it was such an effective piece of propaganda. It advances separate but
imerlinked criticisms of the papacy, introduces them through strong and
simple contrasts, and does not attempt to raise any complex issues of
theology. The pope is identified as Antichrist largely by the antithesis of his
life to that of Christ. A more simple form of communication could scarcely
be imagined within the scope of twenty-six woodcuts with a minimum of
text.
The impact of the work can be seen in the large number of editions it
quickly ran through, no less than one Latin and ten German editions within a
few years_ However, it can be seen more remarkably in the extensive influence
it was to have on later works of visual propaganda. It established, with the
visual contrast between Christ and the pope, an iconographical tradition
which extended into the seventeenth century. 20 This formed the basis of
numerous works of visual propaganda examined throughout this book (see
ills. 33, 35, 38, 44, 72, 73 and 88). One of the most interesting in its
adaptation of Cranach's basic antithesis is the depiction of Christ on the ass
facing the pope on horseback (ill. 128). We have already seen an early version
in the titlepage of a 1522 pamphlet showing Christ jousting with the pope
(see ill. 44). However, the version here takes up the motif more or less as
Cranach presented it in the Passional. Christ, clad in a simple garment, rides
barefoot on an ass which is followed by its foal. The pope is clad in a splendid
cloak and mounted on an elaborately decorated steed_ The triple tiara is
matched by Christ's crown of thorns and halo. Christ is barefoot, the pope
wears slippers.
The depiction also draws on other signs from popular ci.llture and popular
belief. Each figure is given his coat of arms in the top corners of the woodcut.
The pope has the crossed keys and tiara with the Medi>i roundels. Christ has
the instruments of the Passion, the arma Ozristi_ In the shield, which has the
shape of a heart and perhaps recalls devotion to the Sacred Heart, are the
cross and the scourges. The shield is surmounted by the crown of thorns,
another reminder of the devotion to the Sacred Heart, which was often
depicted crowned with thorns. 21 The counterpart to the crossed keys of the
papal arms is provided by the spear and sponge. The written text summarises
these contrasts as the comparison of lord and servant. It also recalls other
contrasts from the Passional: the kissing of the pope's foot and the washing
of the disciples' feet, the scorn heaped on Christ il/.l.il the honour demanded
by the pope, the poverty of Christ and the wealth a~! power of the pope and,
 158 Antichrist and the world turned upside-down Antichrist and the world turned upside-down 159

gences which must be purchased from the pope. This very effective depiction
was copied for a broadsheet of the first half of the seventeenth century."
Another depiction of the Antichrist which had its origin in the Passional is
the figure of the warrior-pope. It is suggested in the !522 image of the joust-
ing pope, if not by the pope's dress, at least by the demon with a pike who
attends him {see ill. 44). Portrayal of the pope clad in armour was doubtless
suggested by Julius II, whose warlike reign provoked Erasmus to bitter com·
ment about the incongruity of a warrior-pope. Not surprisingly, the figure
was revived during the reign of Julius lll (I 550-5), at a time when German
Protestantism faced military challenges from Catholicism. A broadsheet from
this period portraying Julius II as a warrior links him both to the Devil and
to the Antichrist {ill. 129). 23 Diabolical overtones are supplied by demonic
faces on the breastplate, elbow- and knee-guards. Connections with the Anti·
christ are supplied by the written text. This informs the reader that the
illustration was occasioned by Julius issuing a silver coin with his likeness and
with the inscription 'The nation and kingdom that will not serve me shall
perish' {Isaiah 60.!2). One must fear that he will fall upon Germany with
leg1ons of Turks, and destroy it with fire and sword. The commentary thus
echoes Cranach's view of the warlike nature of the papacy, that it will tum to
war to uphold its claims to power. There is an implicit reference to the
Christ-Antichrist antithesis in the closing comment that it is better to die a
thousand times than to turn from Christ to the Antichrist, for God alone is
king of kings and lord of lords.
Another broadsheet from this period is more clearly influenced by the
Passional, with a comparison between Christ and Belial (ill. 130) 24 On the
left we see the warrior-pope trampling underfoot the crucified Christ, the
papal sword raised aloft as in the previous example, about to deliver a mortal
blow. The scenes behind the pope show how the image is to be interpreted:
evangelical believers are martyred for their faith, one at the stake, another by
beheading, a third by being scourged. Separating the left· and right-hand
sections of the antithesis is the Trinity, God the Father through the Holy
Spirit blessing Christ, who is baptised by John the Baptist. This is the promise
of Christ's victory, which is fulfilled on the right-hand side, where Christ has
risen in triumph. He stands above the tomb, under which is a skull and a
serpent, representing death and the Devil. In the foreground, then, it is the
risen Christ who has overcome the pope, who now lies trampled underfoot.
He has been overcome by the cross of Christ's suffering, which the Saviour

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!28 129 Julius Ill as Demonic Warrior, Berlin

Christ on an Ass Confronts Pupt' on Mult< Dahlem
·.i~
160 Antichn"st and the world turned up.~ide-down Antichri.~t and the world turned upside-down 161

holds in his left hand, and by the Word, signified by the book held aloft in his
right. Moreover, the pope has been exposed as the Devil, for in his fall his
tiara has been lost, revealing the horns underneath. As in illustration 129, the
elbow- and knee-guard~ have traces of diabolical visages which indicate these
links. The visual structure adds emphasis to this, for just as the foreground
and background scenes are linked on the left-hand side, so they are linked on
the right. The pope represents death and the Devil, conquered by the risen
Christ. To this skilful visual message, little is added by the printed text.
Although both warrior-pope broadsheets were suggested by the reign of
Julius Ill, the notion of the warrior-pope was not linked just to that name.
t1crglcic'ifun.[ ~mifc~cn €~1it1o vn~J ~Jcm ~dial/ !.3ttt'l ma& fttr
em ~/bnt~eaclt ~~en i 1(c.
~k·':.----~-;
~)~:~--~-- -··
~~';..;.--~-- .
The figure also turns up in a woodcut by Matthias Gerung from the mid-1540s,
where the pope, clad as a /.andsknecht, pursues the poor, and it was used in
the titlepage of a 1546 pamphlet (ill. 131). 25 This places the warrior-pope in
the context of the Apocalypse, astride the seven-headed beast, accompanied
by the whore of Babylon. The scene is more appropriate to a depiction of the
whore, which is thus equated with the papacy. Both are here adored by
secular rulers and by a monk and nun representing the clergy. However, the
scene is reminiscent of the nationalist themes of Cranach's Passional, for the
pope carries the imperial symbols, the orb and the sword of secular power.
The influence of the Passional can be seen less directly in a woodcut from
around 1525 by Hans Sebald Behem, The Fall of the Papacy (ill. 132). 26 On
the right, the pope is toppled from his throne by arrows coming from the top
left-hand corner, from the mouth of Christ. Each of these arrows, bearing a
biblical text, represents the Word. Surrounding the pope is a crumbling build-
ing, which presumably signifies the papal Church collapsing under the attack
of the Word, for some of the arrows strike the building itself. Behind the
pope stand four cardinals, dismayed by his collapse; to the left, a large group
of kneeling clergy attempt to hold up the papal throne by means of a long
rope. They are aided by three standing figures, clearly princes who support
the pope, for the two figures nearest the pope have some resemblance to
Charles V and his brother Ferdinand. In the left background, a crowd of evan-
gelical believers observe this scene, led by Luther in his doctor's cap and bear-
ing a cross. Four of these figures hold open books, perhaps signifying the
Bible, and one gestures towards the scene in the church. This may indicate that
it is the preaching of the Word by Reformation preachers that has caused the
collapse of the papacy.

}i 131 Illustration in Des Bapsts und der Pfaffen Badstub

130 Comparison of Christ and Belial, Berlin (J, Cammerlander, Strassburg, 1546)
 162 Antichrist and the world rurned upside-down I 6.1

The printed text clearly identifies the papacy with the Antichrist. \1ost of
the thuteen arrows carry biblical quotations which describe the Antichrist:
'Many will come and say, 1 am the Chnst' (\1atthew :24.5 ); 'He sits in the
temple and is adC'rd' (:2 Thess. 2.4); 'He proclaims himself to be God'
(2 Thess. 2.4). and others. The blocks of written text correspond to the
various figures: Christ, Christendom or the evangelical bclin·ers.thc cardinals.
the pope and the clergy. The princes arc given no text. however, for they are
silent, although both the pope and the clergy call upon them for support. The
other texts make plain that the pope is the Anticl1rist. t~e cardinals call him
an earthly god, while Christ and Christendom condemn him as an aborninat ion.
Links with Cranach 's work appear in three features. An antithesis between
Christ and the Antichrist is established by a diagonal line which connects
them, along which !low the arrows and the rays emanating from the mouth of
Christ. There is an implicit contrast between Christ's completed ascenswn
into heaven, from where he speaks, and the fall of the Antichris1. Thirdly,
··-~ there is the contrast between Christ and his followers, simple folk relying on
~:
\
the Word, and grouped behind the cross borne by Luther, and the pope,
enthroned and surrounded by kneeling admirers clad in their rich robes of
office. One feature does not appear to have come from the Passional. hut to
have been suggested hy another of Be hem's works, that in which Luther con-
fronts the ungodly (see ill. 22). As in that case this is a divine judjmlent
against the papacy, so supplying the eschatological overtone:'! found m the
Antichrist legend.
'
"
~
~
"-
Cranach 's inOuence on the iconography of the pope- Antichrist was thus
'
'!
It lvll- ~ extensive ami subtle, and can be traced in several other depictions which do
lt!lutil•tl 0
not at first sight seem to resemble the Passional (see ills. 72, 73). This 'Witten-
"!':
J·u~~·.
•l ·~~
ll~t!•ll
"-,
c
berg tradition', developed from Luther's writings, stressed the spiritual nature
l1•jlo i llo :<;
of the Antichrist, whose opposition to Christ was moral, spiiitual and ulti-
llMJl!P~~ .... mately theological. Yet it was not the only means used by evangelical propa-
~

t ::: ganda to discern the Antichrist. There were several other features of the
legend which could he translated into visual signs and applied to the papacy.
E
Some of these have been seen already in the discussion of popular culture.
"
.c

"'<;;"
For example. the Antichrist was born of the Devil, or through the Devil's
-o power. This suggested the depiction of the pope and his cardinals being born
.c of a grinning she-devil (see ilL 64), or the pope heing created by the Devil
"'""
~
through black magic, in imitation of the divine creation of Adam (sec ill.
-"' 65). 27 Another visual type presented the pope as the Devil himself, seen at its
most lurid in the depiction of the pope as Wild Man (see ilL I 04). An unusual
C' version of this type was found cast on a great cannon captured from Prot-
"' estant troops by imperial armies in the Schmalkaldic War (ill. 133), perhaps
as a parody of the saints' images customarily cast on cannon in Catholic
armies. 28
Closely associated with the idea of the Antichrist was the notion of the
 Antichrist and the> world turned upside-down
JM
world turned upside-down, for the Antichrist was the inversion of all that was
Christian and godly. The world turned upside-down was a near universal
theme in late-medieval culture, manifest in a variety of forms, if not always as
a top-to-bottom invcrsion. 29 The German term verkehrte Welt captures more
effectively the sense of a world topsy-turvy, inside out, inverted or reversed
in which it occurs. Such 'symbolic inversion' did not necessarily have any
eschatological or apocalyptic overtones, as with the Antichrist. It could
simply refer to an inversion of a normal state of affairs, as in the case of play,
where the seriousness of the mundane world is changed into frivolity . In
30
carnival we find an institutionalised form of such inversion, where the
dignified is mocked, the elevated demeaned and order reduced to chaos.
Carnival inverts social norms, social hierarchy and social order, so that it is
completely a world turned upside-down. 31
The theme of inversion is also an intrinsic part of Chdstianity. It is found
throughout the Gospels in ideas such as the last shall be first and the first last,
or he who humbles himself shall be exalted and he who exalts himself shall be
humbled. Underlying such notions is a religious principle of inversion: the
mundane, material world is an inversion of true reality, which is spiritual and
eternal, opposed to the ephemeral and the material things to which men give
their attention. The parable of Lazarus and Dives also exemplifies this prin-
'""' '"'" ,,.,, ,.J 11... ~, ...
,,.,,. .. , ~•c
r. •·~
•••f<o-lr"" h•on
133 lllustration in F. Schwr:yger, Chronik der Stadt Hall
1303-1572 (Schonherr 1867: 115)
Antichrist and the world turned upside-down 165
ciple, interestingly enough one of the most popular New Testament parables
of the later middle ages. 32 Here inversion could be used in a moralistic sense,
as a form of compensatory justice. If moral relations were verkehrt in this
life, in the next many would receive both their just rewards and fitting punish-
ments. Associated with this sense of the verkehrt is the notion that the times
are out of joint, and the moral order has been upturned. This was the link
between monsters and portents and the disruption of the moral order that
they signified. The monster and the portent were inversions of nature, signs
of a disordered nature, indicating disorder in the moral world. 33
A further variant of the theme can be found in the wheel of fortune and
associated cyclical theories of history. The wheel of fortune involved a
gradual turning of the wheel and the gsadual completion of a cycle, but it also
focussed on the inversion of diametrically opposed extremes. Thus it embodies
an inversion of good and evil, of the noble and ignoble, and an upturning of
the given order of rank, power and status. The stages of the turning wheel are
only steps towards this total inversion of human affairs. Such symbolic
inversion is also intrinsic to the notions of irony, parody and paradox, so that
the use of the theme for propaganda was an obvious application of a cultural
constant. A form such as the Schandbild relied on the notion of inversion for
its effect, the person being attacked hanging upside down in some of them, or
with an inverted coat of arms. This signified the inversion of his honour and
the upturning of respect to contempt. This form of inversion is continually
used, as we have seen, to attack the papacy. Awe is inverted to crude fam-
34
iliarity, dignity to indignity, religious respect to blasphemous contempt.
We have seen this technique used in the woodcuts in which the Lands-
knecht defecates into the papal tiara (see ill. 59) or farts at the pope (see ill.
61). It was frequently used in pictures or medals which showed a cardinal-
fool or a pope fool (ill. l34).1t forms the basis of the abuse directed at John
Eck in the verkehrt version of his coat of arms, or of those of the pope. Again,
the depiction of the clergy as excrement is an implicit inversion of the high to
the base. 35 Like the light in the candleholder, they are not the light of the
world, but its polluters. The scene in which women hunt monks and the
clergy is another satiric reversal attacking clerical dignity.
Other propaganda works carried the principle beyond a reversal of respect
and dignity ro demonstrate a spiritual or mystical inversion or reversal. The
depiction of the Old and New Belief was a brilliantly inventive use of the
principle to show the papacy as the reverse of true belief. It also skilfully
inverted the accusation that the evangelical movement represented innovation
and unorthodoxy. The application of the Antichrist theme to the papacy was
no less skilful, for it also showed the papacy as a world turned upside-down,
an inversion of Christian belief. Cranach's Passional captured the notion of
inversion, most notably in the last pair of woodcuts. by showing Christ
ascending while the pope plummets to hell. The confrontation of Christ and
 J{j 7
166 Antichrist and the wurld turned upside-down

Belial (see ill. 130) also made use of the inversion technique, with the upend·
ing of the pope by a triumphant Christ.
Use of the world turned upside-down was, however, no mere technique. It
was also a firm conviction of the age that the world was verkehrt, that the
world was perverted or reversed, the times radically out of joint. This belief is
central to Sebastian Brant's perception that folly was the dominant character-
istic of his time. Folly is a brutish inversion of man's spiritual nature, expressed
in the wheel of fortune depiction in The Ship of Fouls (see ill. 90). Folly is
thus linked to theriomorphism as a form of world upside-down. Because men
have perverted their natures, they are changed into beasts. Thus a moral
inversion is perceived in an inversion of form. 36 The same kind of moral
inversion is found in a broadsheet from the early years of the Reformation,
which adapts a stock depiction of the inverted world to the purposes of evan-
gelical propaganda. This often showed hares pursuing, capturing and roasting
human hunters and their dogs, a double inversion of hunter and hunted and
of meekness and aggression.
In our evangelical version (ill. 135) we see a stock depiction of a hunting
scene, but the roles of hunter and hunted are reversed; here the sheep are
hunting wolves. The wolves wear a papal tiara, a cardinal's hat and a bishop's
mitre, identifying them as the papal hierarchy. Two other wolves are depicted
as priests by stoles around their necks. They are herded towards a net where
they arc captured or slain by the sheep. Leading the hunt are figures repre·
senting the Old anJ New Testaments, Moses, the symbolic figures of the four
Evangelists, Peter and Paul. Behind the net is the figure of Isaiah, whose
prophecy is wholly concerned with the turning upside-down of the world.
This 'godly hunt' is further identified by the figure emblazoned on the banner

134 Two-ht·adeJ Cardinal joul, :\-lunich Alte Pinakothek

 Antichn"st and the world turned upside-down Antichrist and the world turned upside-down 16~
168

carried by one of the sheep-hunters, the risen Christ. In the clouds above, ably only be conceived in terms of a total and ultimate inversion of the world
God the Father indicates this sign of the godly hunt. the last days, the Antichrist and the dawn of the millennium. The full weigh;
The printed text provides a multiple layering of the reversal theme. First, of the world turned upside-down in evangelical propaganda is, therefore,
although they appear in sheep's clothes, the clergy are really wolves. Second, carried by apocalyptic motifs. These gave the identification of the pope as
they have not only devastated the flock, but they have also rendered them Antichrist an urgency and compulsion it would otherwise have lacked. The
wild. The faithful have thus had their natures reversed. For this, the wolves theme was most powerfully expressed in the vivid images of the Book of the
have drawn upon themselves divine punishment, and are fittingly attacked by Apocalypse, particularly in the apocalyptic beast 41
We have already seen some examples of the propagandist use of the apoca-
the very sheep they have turned to savagery. This seems to be an oblique
lyptic beast in the satirical woodcut The Seven-headed Papal Beast (see ill.
reference to the fears of a war against the priests which were openly expressed
75) and in the depiction of the pope as Wild Man (see ill. 104), which com-
during the early 1520s, and which was advocated by figures such as Ulrich von
bined the beast with a tlgure from popular culture. However, the motif found
Hutten. 37 The same anticlerical feeling is expressed in the woodcuts depicting
its more appropriate use in illustrations to the Book of the Apocalypse. Here
the hunting of the clergy, and it turns up in a verkehrte Welt depiction in
Cranach appears, once again, to have established an iconographical tradition,
which a monk and a priest are among those hunted and captured by the
for the polemical use of the theme is first found in Cranach's woodcuts for
hares-turned-hunters. 38 Our example goes beyond anti clericalism, however.
Luther's translation of the New Testament, published in Wittenberg in
for it stresses that the world is disordered and morally verkehrt and so has
September 1522. 42 The illustration for Apocalypse 11.1--8 shows the measur-
called down divine judgment. This is executed by the faithful under the
ing of the temple and the two witnesses sent as prophets by God, who are
leadership of the Word, a clear reference to the evangelical movement, both as
devoured by the beast from the bottomless pit (ill. 137). The beast is crowned
the result of the verkehrte Welt and as its corrective.
with a triple tiara to signify the papacy. The artist did not intend, however,
If the hunting scenes placed their main emphasis on moral inversion, other
examples of verkehrte Welt stressed social inversion. The most striking
depiction of the period is found in an illustration to a prognostic published in a;,as ttllt (ill!fttl uon brr umnbt
ruftgdrr firtt/)r btt (IJitfltn~rytt·it
ltl-19 !Hwcrt
1508 which predicted an upturning of the social order. The first chapter of .atm411f bm fkl;nb11rn JrJdJIII On !Jilru'-•
this work speaks of an imminent great change in all estates of Christendom,
encapsulated in a visual inversion of the most basic of Christian social relations
of the middle ages, that between cleric and layman (ill. !36)'9 This shows a
peasant celebrating mass at the altar, while a priest and a monk plough the
fields outside. This was a radical inversion of the role of the priest who
offered his prayers for the layman and mediated between God and man, and
the peasant who supported the priest by the product of his labour. The drastic
nature of the inversion is shown by a literal inversion of the church building
in which the peasants say mass. This kind of social inversion is found running
J! throughout evangelical propaganda, where the common man, the evangelical

i"! peasant or the poor stand for the supporters of Christ and the Gospel, while
the clergy stand for its opponents (see ills. 22, 30, 33, 34, 76, 92). This forms
l' the baSIS of much _of th e soc1a · · 1 content of evangelical propagan da .
· 1 cnhca
.i ~owe:er pervasive the notion of inversion or reversal throughout Refor-
matJOn VIsual propaganda, the stock motifs of the world turned upside-down, C t.1>Khbnnblrlmllfd}licb rif..,d:~tmi2Q'"Onba- e.f
as they appeared m the genre depictions with that name found little direct m r101'rm ft!itiJnt ba flrvfct;'llldnn kg"irllg!'ljnn~Hrr• e.
ckfl'm 1\!nftt.ba- Lafltrll>ir .m..•tgm m.a""rr;orrrt nif•
use'" These joking improbabilities must have seemed sli~t and pallid in the rmrtm lrtOcb liH~d)r"""nb l'tnlta-(•n•ligftyttlllgw
(~Mt'fblrnMDr~'Ocmlfo~~d)~rillid>Nt
face t of the, more serious. mverstons
Th · · w h'1ch evangehcal
· propaganda produce d .
. a God s representallve on earth could be revealed as the Devil as the 136 Illustration in J. Grimpeck, Spiegel der naturlichen
mverslOn of .the divine • w as a reversa1 so radtcal
· ' caul d himlischen und prophetischen sehungen (W. Stockel,
that such stock motifs
Leipzig, 1522), BL 845.i.29, fol. A4 r
scarcely do 11 justice · lnd ee d , the notiOn
· was so shocking that it could prob·
I ]7() Antichn'st and the world turned upside-down

to identify the papacy by this one sign alone. The apocalyptic characterisation
Antichn'st and the world turned upside-down

lament the fall of Babylon are depicted as 'Roman courtesans' - canonists

and benefice-holders. 44
171

of the papacy is developed by various allusions in other illustrations. In the

depictions of the two apocalyptic beasts, the seven-headed and the two-horned The equation of the papacy with the whore of Babylon may have been
beasts, in chapter 13 the associations are less direct (ill. 138). Here, only the suggested by the legend of Pope Joan, which enjoyed some popularity at the
two-horned beast is linked to the papacy by giving it a monk's cowl. This end of the middle ages. This told the story of how a woman became pope
during the ninth century. Ghiberta, daughter of a citizen of Mainz, had a stu-
beast, which "makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first (seven-
dent as a lover. She learned Latin from him. and went with him to England
headed) beast', thus equates the papacy with the seven-headed monster only
obliquely. The motif of the papal tiara returns, however, in the depiction for in male disguise. where they both studied and took doctorates. The lover died
and Ghiberta, now called Johannes, travelled to Rome, where she became a
chapter 16, showing the emptying of the bowls of wrath, one of which is
famous scholar and eventually a cardinal. On the death of Leo IV she was
emptied over the dragon seated on its throne. The dragon, similar to that
43 elected pope, and reigned for just over two years. In that time she took
depicted in illustration 137, wears the same papal tiara.
another lover and became pregnant, although she was able to disguise her
Another apocalyptic association added to the papacy in the September
condition underneath voluminous papal vestments. However, she unexpectedly
New Testament was its equation with the whore of Babylon of Apocalypse
gave birth near StJohn Lateran in the middle of a procession. Thereafter, no
17, clad in purple and scarlet and holding a cup of abominations, who rides
pope would pass in procession ncar this spot, and a special chair was created
astride the seven-headed beast. Cranach also crowns this figure with a papal
for papal elections, in which the new pope had to display his male genitalia in
tiara (ill. 139), and the association is rounded off by depicting the destruction
order to prevent a woman ever again being elected. 45
of Babylon in chapter 18 through a city which can be plainly recognised as
This legend was mentioned frequently in the fifteenth and early sixteenth
Rome (ill. 140). Two well-known Roman landmarks, the Castel Santangelo
centuries: in Boccaccio's On Famous k'omen, which was published in a
and the Capitol, are shown among the collapsing buildings, and those who

137 Illustration to Apocalypse 11.1--8 in Das Ne e 139 Illustration to Apocalypse 17, in Das l'·/ewe Testament
Testament Deutzsch, trans. M. Luther (M.: Lotter, w Deurzsch (Sept. 1522)
Wittenberg, Sept. 1522), BL 140 Illustratior to Apocalypse 18, in Das Newe Testament
138 Illustration to Apocalypse 13, in Das Newe Testament Deurzsch (Sept. 1522)
Deutzsch (Sept. 1522)
 Antichrist and the world turned upside-down
172
popular translation in Germany in 1473; as the subject of a play written
!' around 1480, where she is called Frau Jutta; and in two works by Thomas
Mumer, published in 1514 and 151 7 _Hans Sachs handled the theme m a song
from 1532, and in a broadsheet, possibly the text of an original carnival
play_.. There were at least three woodcut broadsheets produced on the sub-
ject in the 1540s, showing the pope giving birth in the rruddle of a pr~­
cession.47 The appeal of the legend for Protestant propaganda was that 1t
provided grounds to refute the papacy's claim to infallibility and to a~ un-
broken succession. Since the legend was accepted as historically authenllc, It
was a piece of proof which Catholic authorities could not deny. The associ-
ations of sexual immorality also made it a splendid piece of anticlerical propa-
ganda, and perhaps made the equation of the papacy with the whore of
Babylon inevitable. There is no evidence of a link between the two m the
September New Testament. The identification was most explicitly made in a
picture book based on the Apocalypse by Martin Schrott, On the Terrible
Destruction and Fall of the Papacy, published in the 1540s. The first illus-
tration of this work shows the Babylonian whore seated on the seven-headed
beast, giving the cup of abominations to the emperor and princes (ill. 141).
l
I
lI
I\
141 Illustration in M. Schrott, Von der Erschrocklichen
Zurstorung des Bapstums (15 50'). GNM 40 R 1 187 Sb, fol. AS v
Antichn'st and the world turned upside-down 173
She is clad in ceremonial papal vestments and papal tiara, while an inscription
above her head reads 'Agnes, a woman from England, called John VII in the
year 851' (Ghiberta was known as Agnes in certain versions of the legend). 48
If Cranach's depiction of the Babylonian whore was not inspired by the
Pope Joan legend, it may have suggested the connection to others. In any
case, the visual attack on the papacy in the September New Testament is
rather low key. Only six of the twenty.one illustrations single out the papacy.
When it is used, the papal tiara is small and almost unobtrusive, and other
papal references are not highlighted as sharply as some of the other examples
of anti-papal visual polemic discussed above. The publishers were perhaps
wary of arousing too much disapproval from authorities such as the emperor,
for the fortunes of the infant Lutheran movement depended on the non-
enforcement of the Edict of Worms. Indeed, in the next Wittenberg edition of
Luther's New Testament, in December 1522, the triple tiara was cut away,
leaving only a simple crown (see ill. 142). The other references to the papacy
were possibly too indirect to be seen as offensive, and they remained. 49
Other artists and publishers did not suffer from the same inhibitions, and
Craoach's illustrations were quickly copied. The 1523 edition of Luther's
'lew Testament, published by Thomas Wolff in Basel, with illustrations by
Hans Holbein the Younger, used all the papal motifs from the September
142 Illustration to Apocalypse I 7, in Das Newe Testament
Deutzsch, trans. M. Luther (M. Lotter, Wittenberg,
December 1522), BL
 Antichrist and the world turned upside-down
174
1522 edition 5° The dragon threatening the witnesses and later seated on the
throne has a papal tiara, as does the whore of Babylon, while the two Roman
landmarks are included in the destruction of Babylon. The papal tiara is also
a larger and more obtrusive item, and could scarcely be overlooked. By the
time Luther issued his first complete translation of the Bible from Wittenberg
in 1534, any reservations there about such visual labelling of the papacy had
been set aside. The whore and the beast are now given very prominent tiaras
(ills. 143 -4). This greater licence in Wittenberg was influenced by the differ-
ent position of the evangelical movement in 1534. By then, hopes of reconcil-
1
ing the emperor to the movement and of reversing Luther s condemnation at
Worms were decidedly past. The newly formed Protestant movement had also
developed a strong sense of persecution and a fear of physical attack by
Catholic powers. This awareness of being a Church under attack is expressed
at several points in the depictions of 1534, but most noticeably in that of the
two witnesses attacked by the beast (see ill. 144). The two prophets are clad
as evangelical preachers, and from their mouths issue tongues of flame,
signifying that they speak with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The temple
which forms the backdrop to the scene is the Castle Church of Wittenberg, so
that the message was plain.
51
The illustrations to the Apocalypse thus suggested several ways in which
143 Hlustratiun to Apocalypse 17, in Biblia, trans.
'>1. Luther (H. Luff!, Wittenberg, 1534), BL
Antichrist and the world turned upside-down 175
the papacy could be identified as the Antichrist. Perhaps the most popular of
all, however, was the image of the beast, which appears in several forms in the
Apocalypse. There is the dragon, the beast with two horns and the seven-
headed beast, all of which were on occasion equated with the papacy. One of
the more curious versions of this beast to be found in Reformation propa-
ganda, however, was that of the three-headed beast, used frequently during
the 1540s. One example resembles the woodcut in which Christ overcomes
the warrior-pope. This shows the risen Christ trampling underfoot the apoca-
lyptic beast, now with only three heads (ill. 145). In the right-hand back-
ground are the familiar themes of the crucifixion and the tomb guarded by
three monks. The crucifix, however, is without the body of Christ and by
implication the tomb is also empty, for the central figure is Christ risen in
glory. The three heads of the beast characterise it in a more intricate fashion
than in earlier iconography. One is the head of the pope, spewing out foul
spirits, shown by their tonsures as monks, the 'demonic spirits performing
signs' of Apocalypse 16.12. The second is the head of the Turk, recalling a
common view of the time, which saw the Turk both as a sign of the last days
and as identical with Gog and ~agog, the hosts of Satan mentioned in
Apocalypse 20.7. 52
The third head, an angel with wings and a fair countenance, adds a new
feature to Protestant polemical iconography. This refers to the Devil deceiving
144 Illustration of Apocalypse 1 1.2 .g, in Biblia ( 1534)
 17~ Antichrist and the world turned upside-down Antichrist and the world turned upside-down 177

_-. t'"; :-::rt., !t(···r: e:,,t, ,,., ~·-r c(im.·~nx''~Jc:~lm {>ilb ei!:~ p~!r~·~rl.
1 rrt•. the unwary believer by appearing in the form of an angel. It was also a charac-
' 7::•"'"':•tolm":b< '·''"""""' <f'· '"'"ll"•o\·t•• ·'~r·O<•'•<
rr••'''
.. rc· ·~-or·-,""' '''~···" ·•·l> '""''"·'" ''''"' z · · "''' ''"·-•, .• ~.,.,.'~"' teristic of the Antichrist that hi~ fair appearance disguised his diabolical
l._'no .. r ~"" (ro,. ""\>" '""" "'"' ]-"""" (t'' 1<\l<-

origins. 53 Here the printed text relates it to the Interim, the religious settle-

.' ment imposed on Protestant states after the emperor's victory in the first
Schmalkaldic War. This made some concessions to evangelical belief, but
imposed an essentially Catholic settlement. The Interim split the Protestant
movement badly, the strongest points of disagreement arising over the so-
called adiaphora, 'matters of indifference', which were not essential for
salvation and over which some concessions to Catholicism might be made.
The situation was further complicated by the appearance of a second 'Interim'.
The Albertine Elector of Saxony, granted the title for supporting the imperial
side in the Schmalkaldic War, had no wish to offend the emperor, nor to
alienate substantial numbers of Lutheran subjects. He produced for his lands
another settlement, labelled by its opponents the Leipzig Interim, which
made many concessions to the externals of Catholic practice, while attempt-
ing to preserve the core of evangelical doctrine. Much of the Roman rite of
the mass was restored, along with vestments, bells and traditional church
vessels. 54
Such adiaphora were attacked by hard-line Protestants as matters which
merely concealed the Devil. The whole Interim was condemned as the work
of the Antichrist, and a concerted campaign was launched to show that the
Interim was hut another aspect of the antichristian papacy. 55 This is the
origin of the third head in our illustration. The broadsheet is an attack on the
Interim, and seeks by this means to equate it with the pope, the Turk and the
Antichrist, of which all three are manifestations. The motif of the three.
headed beast was used in another attack on the Interim which combined
visual and oral propaganda (ill. !46). This shows a choir of monks and canons
singing a hymn of praise to the Interim. Perched on a column in the centre of
this illustration is the three-headed dragon, beside it stands a fool with cap
and bells, a sign that the Interim is fool's work. The printed text reminds the
reader of the long history of monastic abuse, with foolish singing, drinking
and gaming, all alluded to visually by the singing clergy. One drinks from a
giant beer mug, another holds a gaming-board. The label 'Interim' on the
frock of the canon to the left of the central mu•ic text recalls the stipulation
about the wearing of vestments, the same inscription on the beer mug, per-
haps that it is fit only for drunkards. The music text is a parody set to the
tune of the hymn Beatus vir, with words given both in Latin and in German.
The German text stresses 'Happy is the man who trusts in God and does not
approve of the Interim, for it has the devil behind it.' The second part of this
strophe 'denn es hat den schalk hinter irn' is a word-play on Interim, which
thus served as an oral reminder of the Protestant interpretation of the
-·-·""··-"-"'""''"'"'""''""'- settlement. The word schalk also has a double meaning, either 'fool' or
··::.~;.·;:;.·~:.::.;._;;;·~~::0 :: ~-~;:.~-~~~
a synonym for the Devil. 56 Hence the fool in the depiction behind the
145 Christ Defeats the Pupe as Three-headed Beast. Berlin
 178 Antichrist and the world turned upside-down
Interim, a figure which also made use of the association of folly with the
diabolical.
Other broadsheets attacking the use of the alb, the mass-vestment required
by the Interim, stressed the idea of the Devil behind it. One showed the Devil
holding up the alb, another used the technique of the lift·up flap, similar to
that used to reveal Alexander VI as Satan, which was lifted to show the Devil
', hidden behind the alb. 57 The use of the papal beast to attack the Interim is
' found in another parody hymn sheet (ill. 14 7)." This also uses the hymn
Beatus vir, this time with parts for four singers laid out so that it could he
placed on a table between them. ln the centre is the figure of the pope- dragon,
-
146 Master BP, Satire on the Interim
Antichrist and the world turned upside.;;lown 179
holding a sword recalling the warrior-pope. This beast wears a cope bearing a
demon's face, another attack on the Interim's stipulations about vestments.
The vices of the clergy are alluded to by the dice which make up the cross on
the papal tiara, and in the monk and nun who dance together between the
texts labelled B and C. The counterpart to this pair are a monk and demon
dancing together, the demon's serpent tail extending between his legs to
suggest a penis. This demon is also a monk, for he carries a breviary in a
pouch tied to his waist. The monk holds aloft a goblet in which is a small
monk-puppet, probably an allusion to a fool-puppet, and so to the folly of
monasticism and of the Interim. Each of the four musical parts has a figure
representing a member of the Catholic clergy: a hermit, a canon, a cardinal
and a monk. The hermit is attended by a demonic bird-dragon; the monk
emits a stream of foul spirits, a sign of the apocalyptic beast; the cardinal has
a raven clutching a flute; and the canon has been given a demon playing a
portable organ while it strokes his cheek with a fox-brush. This unlikely
quartet is conducted by the pope-dragon, thus revealing the kind of tune
called by the Interim: it is the hymn of the Antichrist.
A more elaborate interpretation of the three-headed 'worm Interim' is
found in a 1552 pamphlet, The Holy Woman Saint Interim. The title page (ill.
148) shows the three-headed dragon, with a demon's mouth on its stomach,
spewing out brimstone. Its long serpent-like tail ends in a scorpion's sting. Its
body is covered with scales, and it has one eagle's claw and one toad's foot.
147 Hymn-sheet Parody on the Interim
 Antichrist and the world turned upside-down Antichrist and the world turned upside-down 181
180

These features recall the Papal Ass, and the pamphlet interprets them in much the iconography of StGeorge and the dragon (ill. 149). It shows the infant
the same fashion as Melanchthon had explained the bizarre characteristics of Jesus in the role ofSt George, with triumphal banner, on horseback, defeating
that beast. The intertwined necks of the three heads signify that the ungodly a three-headed dragon. The dragon's lair, identified as the papal Church,
support one another in their diabolical work_ The scorpion tail poisons collapses, while a princess kneeling in the middle ground, a constituent
element of St George iconography, is identified as the evangelical Church."
Christians, who are signified by the clear stars around iL The eagle's claw is
The association of the pope with the Turk requires further comment, for
the power of the emperor, which supports the Interim, the toad's foot the
this also linked the papacy to the Antichrist legend. In late-medieval tradition
godless form on which the papacy stands and goes forth. The written text
the mystical Antichrist could be discerned in heretics, bad Christians and un-
also points out the resemblance to Cerberus, the three-headed guardian of
believers. It was natural enough for an age plagued by incursions from the
hell, but the reader is left in no doubt about the apocalyptic nature of the
Turk to link him to the diabolical, most commonly with Gog and Magog, the
beast. Its mother is the whore of Babylon, and for this reason one of its heads
hordes of Satan. The question of whether the Turk was the Antichrist or
bears the whore's crown, the triple tiara. By this means it is identified as the
merely his servant was a pertinent question. Luther thought seriously about
Antichrist, and in the same way as the Antichrist, it was conceived through
the problem, and evangelical theologians debated it." If the theological
the agency of Satan. Its three heads also show it as the offspring of promis-
answer was that the pope was the sole Antichrist, the triple-headed dragon
cuity, for they reveal that it had three fathers, which the pamphlet names as
seemed to settle the question the other way for visual polemic. The strongest
three authors of the Interim. 59 conviction of the equation of the two can be seen in the woodcuts of Mathias
By the middle of the sixteenth century, both the dragon--pope and the
Gerung, dating from the 1540s.63 In one of these, Gerung depicts the pope
three-headed pope had become part of the visual vernacular of German
and the Turk as demons seated in hell {ill. I 50). On the right sits a devil above
Protestantism. Melchior Lorch used the latter in a work from 1555, showing
whom two small demons hold a papal tiara. He holds a papal key in one hand,
the three-headed pope paying a Landsknecht. 60 In 1552 Peter Gottland used
in the other a royal crown, a bishop's mitre and a cardinal's hat. Attending
it in an engraving on the triumph of the New Faith over the Old. This adapts

~~e~etttg frauni-
Sancljncmm.

149 P. Gottland, St George and the Dragon -Allegory of the

148 Title page to Die heilig frauw Sant Interim Triumph of the New Faith over the Old (I 5 52), Dahlem
(M. Apiarius, Bern, 1552), BL
 Antichrist and Jhe wnrld turned up.'iide-down JH3
1112 Antichrist and the world tumed upside-down
pope and the Turk (ill. !52). The Turk and the pope are seated in a strange
him are the three figures belonging to this headwear, perhaps receiving their
positions from the demonic pope. On the left, the other devil is crowned by a
chariot, which is pulled in opposite directions by two sets of beasts. Those on
the Turkish side seem to be strange demonic beasts, those on the papal side
turban held by two demons. The Turk -devil holds a crown and wields a
beasts associated with the Devil, the bear, the lion and the goat. The Turk
sabre, and is attended by a Turk. The link between the two devils is shown by
admonishes his followers, warlike Turks armed with sword; and pikes on
intertwining their tails. which are spitted human limbs and heads. The pope also encourages his
Gerung returned to this theme in a woodcut in which Christ, above whom
followers, whose weapons of war are the signs of Catholic cult, indulgences,
hover the Holy Spirit and God the Father, preaches to the faithful. while
the monstrance and the banners of processions. The followers of the papacy
angels thrust the damned into hell. Here the pope and the Turk, both repre-
are thus equated with those of the Turk, the means of Catholic belief with
sented as apocalyptic beasts crowned respectively with the triple tiara and the
the barbaric weapons and practices of the infidel. This equation is made more
turban, drag bands of their followers into hell (ill. 151 ). Behind these chained
overt, however, in the form of the pope and the Turk, for both appear as two
groups of the damned, left the Turks and right the Catholic clergy, two
parts of one body joined at the waist, just as the three heads of the three-
demonic musicians provide music for the scene. headed dragon form part of one beast. The Turk and pope thus form a two·
Elsewhere, Gerung represented the pope as a lion and the Turk as a bear,
headed beast, an apocalyptic monster. This apocalyptic overtone is con-
attacking poor folk with swords. 64 Another of his woodcuts depicted the
firmed by the divine hand clutching the sword of divine retribution in the
confrontation between the hordes of the pope and those of the Turk, while in
clouds above, signifying the last days and the Last Judgment. 66
the background the Christian faithful are gathered into the safety of the
The theme of the Antichrist thus had many variations and associations
church. Here they are preached to by Christ, while Peter, Paul, Moses and St
which, taken together, formed a complex visual code. This code was one of
John stand guard outside. 65 However, Gerung came close to the iconography
the most effective and lasting creations of evangelical propaganda. Its success
of the three-headed dragon in another work emphasising the similarity of the
depended as much on the exploitation of popular religious emotions as it did
on polemical technique; it depended, in short, on a firmlv held belief in the
Antichrist and his relevance to the rime. This figure was ~ost compelling and

•
f:
!

~50 M. Gerung, The Pope and Turk as Demons En throned

m Hell, BM
1.51 M. Gerung, The Pope and Turk as Demons Drag their 152 M. Gerung, The Chariot of the Pupe and the Turk, BM
followers to Hell, BM

184 Antichrist and the world turned upside-down
evocative within an apocalyptic framework, linked to the last days and the
world turned upside-down. We have seen in an earlier chapter how an apoca-
lyptic mood was reflected in interest in signs, wonders and prophecies. The
evangelical movement took up and extended this sense of living in a verkehrte
Welt, but this was only possible because that belief was already so firmly
rooted in popular mentalities. 67 We can see this in the popular prophecies
which appeared at the beginning of the Reformation and which, quite inde-
pendently of it, highlighted the figure of the Antichrist.
A good example is Hans Virdung's Practica on the Antichrist, published
sometime around the end of the first decade of the sixteenth century, which
drew on the Sibylline prophecies, Methodius and Joachim, as well as on
Virdung's astrological knowledge 68 The work was provoked, Vir dung tells us,
by the obsession of his contemporaries with the Antichrist. Everyone speaks
and writes about his coming, and Virdung was continually being asked, by
noble and non-noble alike, to predict the date of the last days. According to
Methodius, the Antichrist was to appear sometime between 1300 and 1569.
Some had claimed that he would appear in 1300, in 1484 or in !503, although
all of these had been proved wrong. Many were now saying that he would
reveal himself in 1528 or 1531 and be defeated after three years. Others
claimed that Gog was born in !50 I and would lie hidden for fifteen yearS
until 1517, when he would begin his brief reign. On astrological grounds
Virdung calculated that the Antichrist and the last days were due sometime
during the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries, thus conveniently locating
these events in the distant future.
Virdung's work sufficiently attests the eschatological preoccupations of his
c~ntemporaries, who scanned popular prophecies for historical signs to con·
f1rm or deny their misgivings. This trend is also seen in a collection of extracts
from ~orne of the most popular prophecies, from the Sibyls, Bridget, Cyril,
~oach1m, Methodms and Brother Reinhart, which appeared in various editions
m 1518, 1520,1521,1527 and 1530.69 This brief compendium highlighted
the prophecy common to many of these figures, that a holy man would
appear to reform the Church and inaugurate a new reign in both spiritual and
secular realms. In the earlier editions, the incursions of the Turks into
Germany, as deeply as Cologne and the Rhine, were to herald a new refor·
matron of all estates. A holy man preaching in France, Spain and Italy was
also mentwned, but, although the later editions were 'updated' by arguing
that the prophecies had been fulfilled by recent events Luther was not taken
to be this figure."' This perhaps attests to the orthodoxy of the compiler;
certamly it is evidence of the mood of expectation which the evangelical
movement found ready.formed on its appearance.
We have seen how evangelical propaganda tried to turn popular prophecy
agamst the papacy' but it ll]Ust be emphasised that this proved effective
largely because the propagandists also believed such prophecies to be true.
Antichrist and the world turned upside·down 185
Osiander i..;; a useful example, since he seemed so cautious about popular
prophecy in his edition of the Wondrous Prophecy of the Papacy. At the
same time that he published this work, he also put into print a prophecy by
St Hildegard that he had discovered alongside the Joachimite prophecy. This
prophecy, he claimed, 'has begun its fulfilment in our day, and shall be
brought to completion'-" In his preface Osiander runs through the whole
range of divine signs and prophecies which the papacy has not heeded: the
prophets, Christ, the Apostles, voices in the temples and in the air, signs in
the heavens, battles in the clouds, madmen. All the signs given to Jerusalem
have also been given to the papacy. There are biblical prophecies - Daniel
7--8, Zechariah II, the Book of the Apocalypse, Matthew 24, 2 Thessalonians
2, I Timothy 4 and 2 Peter - all passages which Lutherans took to describe
the nature and practices of the papacy. 72 Prophecies have also been produced,
Osiander went on, by the papacy's own bishops, abbots, monks and nuns, by
astronomers, by common rumour expressed in proverbs, by visions and by
signs in the heavens. To remove any doubts of the weight he attached to these
prophetic works, Osiander concludes his preface by mentioning that he has
even more prophecies about the papacy which he cannot publish because
they mention Nuremberg, and to avoid trouble they must be left alone.
73
for evangelical believers such things were, of course, secondary. They cer.
tainly provided ample confirmation of their own awareness that the world
was verkehrt, that the Antichrist was the cause of it, and that he was revealed
in the papacy. Their ultimate standard of proof, however, was the Bible. This
had important consequences for the contemporary apocalyptic mood. No
matter how widespread such feelings or how popular these signs and prophecies
were, they lacked some kind of authoritative confirmation. It could be found
in two areas. First, they could be found to be in accord with Scripture and so
confirmed by the Bible. Second, they could show their fulfilment in his-
torical or contemporary events. It was the strength of the evangelical move-
ment that it provided both simultaneously. In biblical terms, the Antichrist
was shown to have been exposed and the imminence of his defeat proclaimed,
the last great battle announced. In historical terms, he was identified in the
guise of men and institutions - the clergy one encountered daily in the
streets, named popes whose portraits were painted as manifestations of the
Antichrist. 74 Important to all this was the visual dimension- the pope could
be seen to be the Antichrist, the clergy seen as his servants.
What was involved here was the acting out of a real-life eschatological and
apocalyptic drama. For this reason, depictions of scenes from the Apocalypse
were peopled with contemporary places and persons. We have already seen
the characterisation of Babylon as Rome in the depiction of Apocalypse 18 in
the September 1522 New Testament (see ill. 140). In this edition contempor-
ary identifications are numerous. Among those adoring the seven headed and
4
the two-horned beasts is Maximilian I (see ill. 138); those who receive the
 I 1!6 Antichrist and the world turned upside-down
cup of abominations from the whore seated astride the beast include Charles
V, his brother Ferdinand and Duke George of Saxony (see ill. 139). The illus-
tration of the emptying of the howls of wrath in Apocalypse I 6 again includes
Archduke Ferdinand, alongside him the mercenary leader Georg von Fronds-
berg (ill. 153). The four lion-horsemen of Apocalypse 9.17 include as the first
and second riders Duke George of Saxony and Franz von Sickingen (ill. 154).
Finally, the armies of heaven which thrust the apocalyptic beast into hell in
Apocalypse I 9.19 -20 are led by Hutten and Sickingen; aided by the angel,
these put to flight the host of the kings of the earth who serve the beast
(ill. I 55). 75
This edition of the New Testament was published when the evangelical
rnoveme~t. was .perhaps near the peak of its eschatological fervour, and no
other edttlon nvalled it in its contemporary identifications of apocalyptic
events. Yet similar motifs returned in the 1534 Wittenberg edition of the
complete Btble. The illustration of the lament over the fall of Babylon in
Apocalypse I 8 replaces landmarks from Rome (see ill. 140) with those from
Worms, the scene of Luther's condemnation by the empire (ill. I 56). More
stgmficantly, the illustration of Apocalypse 20.9, &hawing the hordes of Gog
and Magog besieging the beloved city, depicts the Turks storming Vienna in
'•, l53 Illustration to Apocalypse
Deutzsch (Sept. ) 16, in DasNewe Testament
1522
I 54 lllust r
Deutzsc~... (.S ra JOn to Apocalypse 9.17 in Das Newe Testament
" ept. I 522)
::
L
Antichrist and the world turned upside-down 187
I 529 (ill. I 57). 76 Recalling the role assigned to the Turkish invasions in the
popular prophecies, this shows how sensitive to apocalyptic signs evangelical
believers still were in the early 1530s. Indeed, in the 1530 edition of the New
Testament by Hans Lufft of Wittenberg, which used the same woodcut, the
word 'Vienna' was inscribed on the woodcut to assist the identification. 77
It is not to be expected that the average reader would have recognised all
the individuals and places as easily as the propagandists intended. but the
intention is undeniable. Luther added marginalia calling attention to contem-
porary events as exemplifications of the apocalyptic tcxt. 7 1:1 There is no -:ioubt
about the perspective in which evangelical believers saw the events of the
early Reformation. Propaganda about the Antichrist and the world turned
upside-down was so successful because it communicated the Reformers' own
sense of crisis and urgency. It could be seen both as a potent response to the
prevailing mood and as providing an answer to it. It has been said that Luther's
identification of the papacy with the Antichrist lowered the tension and
anxiety associated with this figurc. 79 Our discussion here contradicts that
statement. Rather than lowering the tension, evangelical propaganda
heightened it, and directed it onto the clergy and the papacy. It involved the
evangelical believer in a cosmic struggle against absolute evil. The sense of an
imminent crisis was present before the Reformation. The evangelical move-
I 55 Illustration to Apocalypse 19.19 20 in Das Newe
Testament Deutzsch (Sept. 1 522)
 188 Antichrist and the world turned upside down Antic·hrist and th!! world turneJ upside-Jown I /19

ment drew upon popular belief to involve the believer in a struggle intimately
involved with that crisis, the final confrontation with the papal Antichrist
and the world turned upside-down.

~icoffenbarnng­
l:lir F•lnff ~nb ;rorn;igfir ,5igur.

l\l
'1.
'
~.
;;.,

157 Illustration to Apocalypse 20.9 in Biblia ( 1534)

156
Illustration to Apocalypse 18, in Bihlia (I 534)
 TeachinK the Gospel /f.)/

Reformation popular devotion. where it was used to signify the saving blood
7 of Christ in the Eucharist. In this type of crucifix. Christ is crucified on a
winestock, and the stri.'am springing from its foot usually signified the wine of
TEACHING THE GOSPEL communion. Here it has become a sign of the water of baptism. a Protestant
PROPAGANDA AS INSTRUCTION reshaping of a traditional Catholic sign. 2
This visual assembly is rounded off by the printed message. the poem by
Hans Sachs and the various captions within and above the woodcut. The
Two kinds of process were involved in the propaganda we have examined so poem i11 in the form of a complaint, placed in the mouth of God the Father
far. One was largely negative, to denigrate papal belief and to present evan· by means of biblical quotations and references. These point out that the vine-
gelical belief as its antithesis. The second looked backwards, presenting the yard is God's beloved people, laid waste by idolatry, referring tn Jeremiah
Reformation tluough the familiar and the traditional, using the associations 12.1 2 and Isaiah 3.14. Another reference to Jeremiah 2.1J complains that
of popular culture and popular belief. lt was no less important to establish God's people have left the living fountain of water for broken cisterns. This
the Reformation in more positive terms, as a movement with a distinct
theological viewpoint and definite religious characteristics of its own. We shall
now analyse how it set about this task.
The persistent catch-cry of the movement was the Word of God, its major
task the revival of the Word in the religious life of the time. Its primary aim
was thus to lead men to use biblical criteria in judging religious matters. We
have seen earlier how such criteria were used to identify the enemies oi the
Gospel. The next step was to enable men to discern whn were its advocates.
A good example of how this step was taken can be seen in a !532 broadsheet,
God's Complaint over his Vineyard (ill. 158), with a woodcut by Erhard
Schoen and printed text from Hans Sachs-'
The woodcut is structured as an antithesis, the scene being divided into ~n
evangelical theme on the left, and a Catholic theme on the right. The Cathohc
part of the vineyard is cultivated by the pope and several monks. It brings
forth as its fruit not grapes, but the objects of Catholic cult and devotion-
ro_sanes, reliqu~ries, monstrances, images, indulgences, church organs (a Sl~
of church music), censers and incense church bells mass-books and ves
ments, the signs of fasting (fish and pre;zels) and holy, water, signified by th~
kettle and asperger. Another form of 'fruit' consists of monks' cowls, nuns
habits, cardinals' hats and the berets of mass-priests. ln the background centre,
God the Father, identified by his crown and halo, sets about cleaning out !he
vmeyard thus laid waste by 'human laws and doctrines'. He is assisted by
angels, who uproot or cut down the dead branches and cast them into a fire.
The mon k"lS h ttlers
·1 of the garden are driven out and a giant hound IS· chatn
· ed
at the gate of the vineyard to prevent their retur~.
On the left-hand side, an evangelical preacher instructs an assembled con·
gregatwn with the words: 'Blessed are those who hear the Word of God, and
~eep It, and act according to it.' He indicates the crucified Christ, the true
rmt of the vineyard. From the foot of the crucifix flows a stream watenng
the newly pl t d ·
.
·
an e vmes wh1ch bear real fruit. The stream is a sign
savmg waters of b 1-
·
f
°
f the
pre·
158 Erhard Schoen, God's Complaint IH'er his Vineyard ( 1532)
ap tsm, and the type of crucifix is taken over rom

190
 192 Teaching the Gospel Teaching the Gospel 193

may be the reference intended visually by the monk on the left of God the the Catholic clergy. At the entrance, the pope and his clergy demand pay·
Father who is digging a dry and empty well beside the fountain of lil~1g men! from StPeter for their work. On the other side of the hedge, evangelical
water which wells up beneath the crucifix. Those who should have cared for preachers carefully tend a flourishing garden. Many are recognisable as major
God's people have not given them pure water, but poisoned water, to drink. reformers. Luther rakes the ground, Melanchthon draws water from a well,
Moreover, wild beasts have been allowed to break into the vineyard and and Johann Forster empties a bucket onto the soiL Johann Bugenhagen is
devour the fruit (Isaiah 56.9-10), while the watchmen are blind. Sachs hoeing, and a figure kneeling to tend the vines is probably Justus Jonas.
expounds further the complaints made by God. Where divine prophets are Others in the vineyard appear to be princes, and a family group of donors,
not heeded, God will sit in judgment on the despoilers of his vineyard possibly the princely family of Saxony, stand before its fence'
(Jeremiah 23), whose human laws and teachings have poisoned his commands. Schoen's woodcut sounded the eschatological note, never far away in early
These Old Testament references are complemented by New Testament Reformation propaganda, by showing God as judge, actively intervening in his
similes of the vineyard, in particular that in John I 5 .I, where every vine vineyard. The monks being driven over the fence and the angel burning the
which does not bear fruit will be cut down and cast into the fire. This is made weeds of papal belief seemed to indicate that the waste and rubble can be
a major theme by the caption above the woodcut: 'Christ says: "Every plant cleared and the entire vineyard saved from ruin. By contrast, the Cranach
which my heavenly father has not planted will be rooted up" ' (Matthew painting expresses a sense of resignation. The vineyard is now clearly divided,
IS .13). Sachs completes his poem with other references to the vineyard: one part sealed off from the other. Meanwhile, the pope demands from St
Luke I 3.6 9; Matthew 2 LI; Isaiah 5.]. Peter his just reward, an echo, perhaps, of the biting satire Julius Exclusus, in
which Julius II demands entry at the gates of heaven only to be rebuffed by
The broadsheet thus draws on an extended biblical metaphor, the vineyard
St Peter 7 Moreover, the painting lacks the predominant eschatological tone
of the Lord, and links it to an important sign from the New Testament, Chiist
the vine ·3 The a dd'Itwn of the woodcut, and the latter's extensive theological references are left
· o f t h e preacher and the congregation creates a Iarge
largely unstated. The vineyard has simply become a metaphor for the Church,
assembly of signs with instructional purpose, which is given a biblical inter·
and the instructional purpose of Schoen's work is wanting.
~retatlon by Hans Sachs' text. In sum, it instructs the reader in biblical terms
Another biblical image is employed in a broadsheet based on the parable
m the correct understanding of true and false religion. The only poorly 8
in Matthew 7.24-7, The House of the Wise and Unwise Man (ilL 160) The
mtegrated tmage IS the hound at the gate of the vineyard, possibly a classical
woodcut again uses the form of the antithesis, and here it is the house which
reference to Cerberus, the canine guardian of hell, thus alluding to the fate of
signifies the Church. On the left is the house of the wise, the evangelical
. . out of the Lo rd's vmeyard.
those cast - · ·
However, the overall s1gmficance of'"''
UlP
Christians, built on the firm rock of Christ- This is signified by the pillars of
work IS Its attempt to invest this assembly of signs with theological content-
The vmeyard theme had been used before in Reformation propaganda, but
not. Wllh the
. same effect, sot h at we may judge by the companson . the degree
of mnoval!on in Sch oen ' s b roadsheet. It appeared for example in a po 1erruca- I
work .of 1524 b Y Th omas Stoer, On the Christian ' Vineyard. ~ The tit· 1epage
codntamed a woodcut from Hans Sebald Behem showing Christ and St Paul
m Icatmg
.
with d'18 P1easure t h ree goats devastating the vineyard. Th1s - wo od cut
had little
. polem· 1
Ica purpose and provided only an incidental illustratiOn - for
th e wrrtten text Sch
. . - oen s woodcut was more probably inspired Y 1']Ius-
' b
tratwns m a p - b the
rognost1c Y Joseph Grunpeck. Following St Gregory,
Ch urc h was here ill d -,
Ch · . . ustrate as a vineyard (ill. 159), the depiction also showtn,
1
ns m the wmepress ~ of
- t' bl . ' a popu 1ar means of representing the real presen
Ch ns s ood m the - 0 f
_ wme the Eucharist. A further illustration in this work
·
sh ows t h e vmeyard of th e Ch · urch being laid waste by the Turk, a molt'f which
no d oubt suggested S h ' vine-
yard of th Lo ' c oen s attack on the papacy as despoilers of the
Lo. C e rd. Schoen's adaptation of the theme was taken further by 159 Illustration in J. Gri.mpeck, Spiegel der . ..
cas ranach the y - . . · d' -ded
. ounger In an oil pamting in which the vineyard IS IVI prophetischen sehungen (1522), fol. Dii v
II by a h ed ge mto tw d- -
0 IS!mct halves, the left-hand section being laid waste
by

!
:I_,

~

194 Teaching the Gospel
the house, formed by the Old and New Testaments and the paschal lamb,
symbol of the risen Christ. Above, in heaven, the risen Christ himself promises
peace to his Church, which is impervious to attack from the godless. The
latter are signified by a cardinal with a papal bull to the left of it, and by a
canon to the right, who threatens it with the pyre, which doubtless signifies
burning as heretics. The Church is also literally threatened by a monk with a
bow and arrow and a peasant with a sword. The latter is an interesting reversal
of earlier connotations attached to armed peasants as supporters of the
Gospel. Here it seems to allude to peasant unrest as a worldly threat to the
Church, which it will nevertheless survive.
On the right is the house of the unwise, the Church of the godless, who are
depicted largely as monks. It is built on the foundation of the Antichristand
the shaky pillars of Duns Scotus and Aquinas, the pillar representing the last
bemg barely able to stand up. The seven-headed apocalyptic beast which rises
up beneath the building is both the prop and the cause of the collapse of the
ungodly Church. But no less effective in bringing about its collapse is the
broad stream of the Word of God, which sweeps away its tottering pillars.
Above, an angel proclaims that Babylon has fallen, echoing the apocalyptic
note provtded by the beast.
160 G. Pencz The Huusf' uf tht' H.!ist' and Unwise Man
(1524), Berlin '
Teaching the Gospel 195
This broadsheet uses a less complex biblical image than that of the vine-
yard, hut it is more creative in its visual message. The moral antithesis 'wise
and unwise man' is presented through the two buildings, and so is transformed
into the theological antithesis 'true and false Church '. 9 This contrast is fur-
ther developed in the 'fundament' image - the opposing supports are Christ
and the Bible versus the Antichrist and the purely human leaching of Scot us
and Aquinas. This partly theological contrast is complemented by a more
polemical antithesis based on the resilience of the true Church, a biblical sign
through which it can be identified. The ungodly cannot oppose the Word of
God, but the true Church can easily withstand the puny attacks of merely
human opponents. The work is thus an exhortation to confidence in the new
Church which operates at a double level of connotation. At the level of the
signifier (the wise/unwise contrast) it connotes the wisdom of the true
believer, which is true wisdom because it is assured of victory, an essentially
moral point. At the level of the signified (the true Church/false Church con-
trast), it connotes certainty of salvation, a theological point. Through this
kind of chain of associations it strives to attain a level of theological com-
munication, the visual signs being interrelated so that the connoted messages
can also be shown to be linked.
This technique was used in an even more polished way to communicate
two other central concepts of the new belief, those of the preacher and the
evangelical community. An early example can be found in 1522, in the title-
page of a work by Eberlin von Giinzburg, An Exhortation to the Christians of
Augsburg (ill. 161 )-' 0 The woodcut, probably by Heinrich Satrapinus, shows
a preacher addressing a crowd with the aid of a crucifix and an open book,
doubtless the Bible. He preaches not from a pulpit but in the open air and,
although his alb identifies him as a cleric, he is clearly a popular preacher
11
operating outside the formal structure of the Church. This woodcut,
thought to represent Eberlin von Gi.inzburg, may hark back to an earlier
depiction of another popular preacher, the Drummer of Niklashausen, who
was depicted in Schedel's World Chronicle preaching in similar circum-
stances.12 What is striking in this depiction is the way the congregation is
represented as a body of actively participating believers." This is signified by
the hand gestures of members of the congregation who appear to be arguing
with the preacher. Indeed, they are no body of wholly convinced evangelical
believers, since the woman seated in the left foreground holds a rosary in her
right hand. The suggestion of debate is carried also by the gestures of the
preacher, who holds his arms spread wide apart, his right hand marking a
place in the open book, as though to serve as a reference for discussion. Here,
and in the following examples, we can see a skilful use of gestural codes to
urder the other signs in the woodcut and to convey the message.
A similar iconographical idea is found in the depiction of a sermon in the
1530 edition of Cicero's De officiis, published in Augsburg by Wolf Steiner

196 Teaching the Gospel
{ill. 162). 14 The preacher stands in a simple pulpit, perhaps in the open air,
although this is unclear. He holds the book closed beside him and gestures
with two fingers towards his congregation. The hand gestures of the two men
seated on blocks or boxes on the left again create the impression of a lively
interchange, as does the hand gesture of the woman seated centre front. To
her left, another woman holds her hands up in an attitude of pious attention.
A standing figure visible between the heads of the two men seated on the left
is perhaps a monk. In the background two other men approach the scene,
15
apparently attracted by the lively discussion going around the pulpit. The
printed text beneath explains the purpose of the woodcut, that it is intended
for the simple and unlearned. Those who cannot understand complicated
doctrines should heed the simple message: love God, keep his command·
ments and do to your neighbour as you would have him do to you. This is the
content of the 'brief sermon' delivered by the preacher.
The idea of debate and discussion during a sermon could be applied more
fully for educational propaganda. We see this in a woodcut by Georg Fenez,
The Content of Two Sennons {ill. 163), which appeared in Nuremberg some·
!!me during the later 1520s. The theme of the sermon is now combined with
the antithetical form, the woodcut space being divided into two halves by'
pillar. Facing towards the centre from pulpits on the left and right are '
preacher and a monk. They confront each other as though they were dis·
<alirtrmbrrc.
161 Titlepage t 0 Eb erlin von Gunzburg,
.. . .
tro;rtli h A in frazntllch
c e vermanung [P. Ulhart, Augsburg, I 522), BL
b
li
Teaching the Gospel 197
putants competing for the attention of the congregation. However, the con-
gregation has already been divided into two groups. On the left, the evangelical
group listen attentively to the Word of God. On the right, the orthodox
believers tell their rosary beads, as though paying little heed to their preacher.
However, the evangelical congregation follows the words of its preacher
through the words of Scripture itself. This is signified by the group of women
sitting beneath the pulpit, two of whom have open the pages of a book,
doubtless the Bible, in which they are following the preacher's exposition of
his text. The evangelical group seems to come from a slightly lower level of
society than the orthodox. Both groups contain folk in burgher or artisan
dress, but the men at the back of the evangelical congregation wear hats
which perhaps identify them as simple artisans or peasants.
The pictorial message is expressive but limited. It is certainly a disputation,
but one which the viewer is called upon to judge. This is stated in print by the
two lines of text beneath the dividing pillar: 'Judge herein, pious Christian,
which teaching is true.' Corresponding to this verbal appeal is a visual appeal,
represented by the figure who stands with arms outstretched beneath the
pillar. He probably represents the 'cryer', the wise man who summons the
viewer to judge the scene, his gesturing hands indicating approval of the one
and disapproval of the other." Thus, there is no ambiguity about how the
viewer is to judge, but to grasp the content of the two sermons we must turn
to the printed text. This is indicated roughly in the lines above the woodcut,
which allude to the good and bad shepherds, the one who preaches the Word
from the mouth of God, the other who is interested only in exploiting the
sheep.
162 Illustration to Cicero, De officiis (W. Steiner,
Augsburg, 1530)
 :I
/98 Teaching the Gospel 199

The main body of the printed text contains a summary of evangelical

belief: sinful man's need of Christ as mediator, Christ's saving death, the
necessity for salvation of belief in Christ, the new birth through faith which
justitlcs before God, all of which is proclaimed in the Gospel. Orthodox helief
is described by its chief characteristics: the pope as the spokesman of God
whose commands are given under pain of the ban. good works, the monastic
life, fasting. observances, ceremonies, consecrations, ringing of hells, organs.
display of relics, the purchase of grace, begging, pilgrimages, feasts, confession.
confraternities, the foundation of masses, the decoration of churches, pur-
chasing indulgences and redeeming souls from purgatory by paying for
masses. This lengthy enumeration is intended to call the reader's attention to
the power of the new beiief in its simplified message. It also shows how much
more effective a visual representation could be than the written enumeration.
Illustration ISH presented much the same enumeration of Catholic cult
and belief through visual signs which were instantly apprehensible. For
the unlettered it was far more effective in presenting the contrast between otd
and new belief than Pencz's work. This contrast between printed and visual
texts is recalled by the rest of the Catholic preacher's words. which hark back
to the Passional Christi und Antichristi. The pope's role is summarised
through the mouth of the monk thus: he cannot err, alt things must bow to
him. he sits in the place of God and has power on earth over all spiritual
matters. 'iVhoever does not find favour with him will be expelled. The monk
closes his sermon with a warning about the new heresy abroad in the land.
Although the old belief has stood for many hundred years. the oew belief
• seeks to make fools of our fathers .
"c This work seems to be less effective at teaching the content of the 'two
~
• sermons', and more successful in reminding men of a contrast with which
"'
0 they were already familiar. It was polemical rather than pedagogic. Yet it
'
~ concentrated the viewer's attention on a central point of evangelical belief.
"c the preaching of the Word. and on the dispute of the two faiths about it. It
~ was a useful image, and was copied twice. It was used once as titlepage to a
~
1545 Latin work about the dispute between evangelical and papist religion.
'0
u The second version is a single woodcut found by Derschau, perhaps intended

"'.i
for use in a broadsheet or titlepage (ill.l64). Except for minor changes, both
~
woodcuts are alike, and one may have been copied from the other, although
0 there is no doubt that Pencz's work was the model. 17 The sense of disputation
•'
~ he established so effectively is slightly impaired by the omission of the

~
0 'cryer', and to compensate for this both copies add words to the visual space.
The evangelical preacher has the Latin words: 'This says the lord God': the
. ~
~ monk the words: 'Thus says the pope.'
.' ~

I!
!t
Pencz's idea was taken up most effectively, however, by Lucas Cranach the
Younger in a double broadsheet which combined the idea of two kinds of
preaching with the visual representation of Catholic cult achieved by GoJ 's
'II,
:\
;!
I.

'!
·•!
;n"
 Teaching the Gospel
200
Complaint over his Vineyard. It presented the 'difference between the true
religion of Christ and the false idolatrous teaching of the Antichrist' {ills.
165-6 ). The work is divided into two opposmg halves by a pillar in the
centre. On the right is papal teaching. Here we find a grossly fat monk preach-
ing without the aid of the Bible. His message, spelled out in print above his
head, is that one may see here many ways to blessedness that are not heretical,
and through which one may easily become blessed. The reader is then pre-
sented with a visual catalogue of Catholic practices which were listed only
symbolically in the Vineyard woodcut.
In the background there is a procession around a church, praying to a
saint, probably the local patron. Two pilgrims approaching from the right
show that it is a pilgrimage church. In front of these two figures, a dying man
stretched out on a table receives the cowl, so being given the certitude of
dying within the privileged monastic Orders. Two monks lay the cowl upon
him, while a nun sprinkles him with holy water, and intones the words: 'The
cowl, the tonsure and the water aid you.' To the right of this group, a bishop
consecrates a bell, while in front of him a solitary priest celebrates a private
mass. Behind the priest, a group of monks consecrate an altar assisted by a
devil. Gathered around the pulpit, attending to the mook-,preacher, ts a
crowd of Catholic clergy - cardinals canons monks and members of various
religious Orders and some lay folk beneath the pulpit beside the dividing
ptllar, barely recognisable by their headgear.
ln the bottom right-hand corner sits the pope selling indulgences, assisted
by a nun. On the table before him are coins on a large silver plate, and he
handles another pile of coin. There is also a money sack on the table, similar
to that seen in the satirical arms of the pope (see ill. 58). The pope holds up
Copy uf Pencz , Content uf Twu St>rmuns
Teach inK the Gospel ]0/
an indulgence, on which is written a ver~ion of the words said to have been
used by Tcttel in his 1517 indulgence campaign: 'Because the coin rings, the
souls to heaven springs.' Beside the table i~ a large money chest, and beside it
lies a fat sack of coin, on which is written: 'This is shame and vice, wrung
from your offerings.' Before the table, with another fat moneybag at his
waist, is a stout monk clutching two chickens, perhaps an allusion to chickens
paid as feudal dues or part of the clerical tithe. In the clouds above, God
angrily rains down fire and brimstone upon this scene, while St Francis,
recognisable by his monastic habit and stigmata, vainly intercedes for those
below, showing the uselessness of the saints as mediators between man and
God.
Unlike the Pencz woodcut, which was comparatively free from polemical
language, this depiction is richly overlaid with emotive signs. The tone is set
hy the inscription on the bull held by the pope and its attack on the fiscal
side of Catholic belief is driven home visually in all the signs surrounding the
pope in that corner of the woodcut. This is surprising, given the late date of
composition of the work, probably around 1547 or thereafter." One might
have expected that the attack on the money-making aspects of Catholicism
had worn thin by then, especially as it was also recognised as an abuse by
Catholic authorities. However, it is in keeping with the bitter polemical and
satirical tone of the woodcut, and to heighten this satirical note, it draws on
many of the popular cultural signs which we have discussed elsewhere.
Among these popular cultural signs we can note a devil blowing with a
bellows into the ear of the monkish preacher, a version of the Devil 's bagpipe
or speaking·tube, which identifies the monk's message as diabolically inspired
and of the Antichrist 19 The diabolical theme is repeated by the figure who
plays the central role in blessing the altar. This has spectacles, a bird's beak
and claws, and wears a fool's cap. This link between folly and the Devil leads
the reader to the theme of the Catholic clergy as fools. The monk holding the
giant candle in the left foreground has been given a fool's cap for a cowl,
while the monk behind the fat monk with the chickens has a carnival puppet
peeping out of his cowl. The vices associated with folly have not been
omitted. One is perhaps delicately alluded to in the nun who assists the pope
with his sale of indulgences, but another is very evident in the shower of
playing-cards and dice falling from the cowl of the monk to the right of the
one v.ith the candle. The coarse and overfed features of all the monks add to
this impression, and another monastic vice, slyness and cunning, is signified
by the tlgure to the left of the candle·bearer who is wearing a stole made
wholly from fox·brushes. 2° Finally, there hangs over this entire representation
of Catholic belief a sense of doom and desolation, connoted not only by the
hail of fire and brimstone hurled dowo on it by God, but also by the hard and
stony ground on which all of these scenes are set; an indirect allusion, perhaps,
to the parable of the stony ground.
 Teaching the Gospel Teaching the Gospel 203

-1

j
t!
I
I
,,i
ll
lr

j :r

:!
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'I 166 Lucas Cranach the Younger, Twa Kinds ofPreuching
'I l65 Lucas Cranach the You . T .
the Catholic
the EvanJ?elicul ngcr, wo Kmds of Preach inK.

-~-
204 Teaching the Gospel
Turning to the 'true religion of Christ', the starting-point for the reader is
again the preacher. He is clearly recognisable as Luther, preaching from the
open book of the Bible. He preaches not with his own words, but with those
from the Acts of the Apostles, inscribed on the pulpit: all prophets attest
this, that there is no other name in heaven than that of Christ. Luther is thus
indirectly identified as a prophet, and in another revival of earlier Luther
iconography, he is again given the sign of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
the dove in the nimbus above him. His pointing fingers indicate the end of a
banderole which leads into the heavens, a contrasting gesture to that of the
monk opposite him, whose fingen point downwards, to the clergy assembled
beneath his pulpit. Luther's gesture leads the reader along the textband,
which says 'Behold the Lamb of God', to the paschal Jamb and flag, the
symbol of Christ as Saviour. The reader is Jed further along the textband to
the figure of the crucified but risen Christ, through the text: 'I am the way.'
This in turn leads up to God the Father as Lord of the world, holding the
orb, over the words: 'There is only one mediator.' Additional text has been
added in the space between Christ and God. The top text is placed in Christ's
mouth: 'Holy Father, save them; I sacrificed myself for them with my
wounds ... ' The bottom text reiterates this salvific message: 'If we sin we
have an advocate before God, so let us turn in consolation to this means of
grace.'
This series of theological messages is arranged like an arch, and sheltering
beneath it is the church of evangelical believers. To the right, a crowd of lay·
men listen to Luther preaching, among them a figure recognisable as a prince
of Saxony. He is shown carrying a cross, signifying that this is the Elector
John Frederick, imprisoned for his faith (in the Protestant interpretation of
the matter) after losing the Schmalkaldic War of 1546-7. 21 To the left of
this group are depicted the Protestant sacraments. In the foreground, com·
munion is given under both kinds before an altar dominated by a crucifix,
the sign of Christ's saving death. Beside this are inscribed the words which
justify giving the cup to the laity: 'Drink all of you ... ' (Matthew 26.27). In
the middle ground, centre, a baptism is conducted.
This is a very full picture, but in contrast to the depiction of 'false belier
it is well ordered and simple. It presents the essentials of Protestantism:
preaching of the Word, Christ as the only mediator, through whose death sin
is forgiven. This theological thought is then reflected in the sacramental
means through which it is actua1ised in the community of believers, through
baptism and the sacrament of the altar. There are some minor details of the
entire work which are worthy of note. The adherents of Catholic belief are
depicted predominantly as members of the Catholic clergy and hierarchy,
those of Protestant belief as laity, most of whom seem to belong to the more
p:ominent sections of society. More importantly, there is now no question of
dispute, and the viewer is given no choice between two alternatives. The
Teaching the Gospel 205
representatives of true and false belief do not stand confronting each other as
disputants. but back to hack without any interaction. This is also the intention
of the heightened satirical and polemical tone of the right-hand woodcut. The
overall message is :hat there is only one true belief through which one may he
saved. Adherence to Catholic belief is not only diabolical folly, but also leads
to damnation.
This message was not new, of course. and IS found in evangelical propa-
ganda from the beginning of the new religious movement. What is different
about this example is the attempt to present a profile of a new institution.
the Lutheran Church. Pedagogic propaganda ior the Reformation can be seen
to move through distinct stages. First, it attempted to show men the import-
ance of using biblical criteria to judge matters of religion, especially, as we
saw in chapter 3, to discern the difference between the old and the new
belief. Second, it had to identify and communicate effectively the central
doctrines of true belief. A third stage was to identify and characterise, not !
just two kinds of belief or preaching, but two different Churches. We have l
been examining this development in most of rhe examples in this chapter.
However, this process enters an important new stage with the depiction of the
Lutheran sacraments. These ritual ceremonies, more than any other, single
out not just a set of doctrines or belief, but identify a Church as a community
of acting believers. The propaganda thus takes its readers along the road to :!
the institutionalisation of the new movement.
This can be seen most clearly in some further examples of educational
propaganda. Another product of the Saxon school is a woodcut by Lucas
Cranach the Younger (ill. 167). This is also in the form of an antithesis, but
22
here the dividing line is formed by the figure of Luther himself. He preaches
from a pulpit which is adorned with the symbols of the four Evangelists,
while the open book of the Bible lies before him. k; in the Pencz woodcut,
gestures suggest the antithesis. Luther's left hand is stretched out and turned
downwards in a gesture of rejection towards the papal scene on his left. His
right hand makes an indicative sign with two fingers, pointing to the crucified
Christ. On his left, the pope and members of the Catholic hierarchy are
devoured by the jaws of hell, attended by rejoicing demons, one of whom
lays a small spiral of excrement on the top of the head of a nun, who is barely
visible at the back of the crowd. Another demon kisses the pope's foot as he
sinks back into hell.
To Luther's right, a group of evangelical Christians receive communion
under both kinds from the hands of two Lutheran ministers. The crucified
Christ and the Jamb and flag on the altar are signs of the theological content
of the sacrament. In this depiction it is interesting that those receiving the
bread on one side of the altar are all women, while those receiving the cup on
the other are all men. It is unclear whether there is any significance in this
division of the sexes other than the artist's desire to create a balanced com-
 206 Teaching the Gospel
position on the evangelical side of his work, in contrast to the disorder and
confusion on the papal side. More noticeable is that the congregation are all
high members of society. Indeed, in many of their features there is resern·
hlance to the ducal family of Saxony. Most interesting of all is Luther's
position in the composition. Depicted as the proclaimcr of the Word of God,
he has been placed in the role of cryer assumed by the greybeard in Pencz's
woodcut. He has also, however, been placed in the position of judge, with the
doomed on his left being rejected and cast into the flames. and the saved on
the right being shown the clear means of salvation. This means of salvation,
the crucifled Christ, is also visible to the damned, but they chose to ignore it,
looking to the pope or to each other. This is a further stage of institutional-
isation, for we now see an ordered Church with an Establishment of its own,
denoted by Luther as leader and the princely house of Saxony as its pro-
tector. Moreover, in Luther it has its first confessor. In the previous work,
Luther appears as divinely inspired prophet; here he appears almost in the
place of God, as divine judge or at least as the agent on earth of divine judg-
mcnt.23 We shall examine further evidence for this viewpoint shortly.
Another woodcut from the Cranach school also demonstrates the same
phenomenon. Dating from around the middle of the sixteenth century, this
shows two figures distributing communion in a church (ill. 168). They are
identified by name as Luther on the left and Huson the 1 ight. They arc giving
i
!l·t
l67 Lucas Cranach the Younger, Luther Prt'aching ~vith
lilt' Popt' in the Jaws of Hell ' 168
II
[
Teaching the Gospel 207
communion under both kinds to members, living and dead, of the house of
Ernestine Saxony, all of whom are named. Receiving the sacraments in the
foreground are the first two of the 'Lutheran' electors, Frederick the Wise
kneeling on the right and John the Constant on the left. Behind Frederick the
Wise is the next Elector, John Frederick, and his wife Sibylla of Cleves,
behind the altar John Frederick II and two younger princes, Johann Wilhelm
)
"~
and a third John Frederick. In the centre of the altar stands a fountain
representing the second of the Lutheran sacraments, baptism. The blood
flowing from the side of the crucified Christ becomes a fountain of saving
water, while the two basins of the fountain are supported by the intertwined
roots of a large vine. The vine is a long-established motif, both for baptism
and for Christ's salvific role when linked to the fountain, and also recalls the
Vineyard woodcut which used the theme. 24 In the background left, we see a
reference to a third sacrament accepted by Lutheranism, where Luther
appears to be hearing confession from John Frederick. 25
Such an illustration no longer seeks to characterise Lutheranism by its
opposition to Catholicism, but presents it as a Church in its own right. How-
ever, there is also an implicit attempt to distinguish the Lutheran Church
from other forms of evangelical belief. The emphasis on baptism found in this
example and in the depiction of true and false belief by the younger Cranach
(see ill. 165) clearly divided Lutheranism from Anabaptism, particularly in
the latter case, by explicitly showing infant baptism. 26 It has also been argued
that the depiction of the crucified Christ on the altar associated with the dis-
tribution of communion was intended to assert the doctrine of the real
presence against Zwinglian belief. 21 If this was the case, the intention was
'f
I
Luther and Hus Distribuk Communion, GNM
208 Teaching the Gospel Teaching the Gospel 209

rarely made explicit and it was certainly less evident to a reader than the
other signs presented in these visual works.
One of the most noticeable features of the examples of attempts to edu·
cate through propaganda that have been studied so far is their low level of
theological content. This was a particular difficulty for visual propaganda, for
theological complexity was, perhaps, best presented through the spoken or
written word. Iconographically, certain signs could become identified with
certain doctrines, such as Christ in the winepress signifying the real presence
{see ill. 159), or the fountain of grace indicating the saving power of baptism
{see ilL 168). Cranach's depiction of true and false belief attempted to resolve
this problem by providing a visual compendium of Reformation doctrine,
although it still relied on the emotive power of anti-papal polemic. Further,
Cranach's summary of Reformation belief was closer to a set of slogans than
to a proper theology. Few works of visual propaganda were able to cope with
the problem without falling back on idealised allegories or highly abstract
symbols. Only a few did so with any degree of success.
The most interesting of these, which might be called 'theological broad·
sheets', has attracted little attention since it was republished by Derschau at
the beginning of the nineteenth century. Although it lacks a title, its thea·
logical content enables us to entitle it The Origin of .\'in and ManS Justification
before God {ill. 169). 28 It is in the form of a Rilderbogen made up of six
friezes, each broken up into four scenes, so that the entire work can be read
like a comic strip. The artist is unknown, being identified only by the initials
NG on the base of the pillar separating the first and second scenes of the last
row. The style is similar to that of the Cranach school, probably from the
early period of the Reformation. Each of the scenes contains banderoles
labelling the figures depicted, so that the message can be easily read.
Reading along the first row, we first see the creation by God of Adam and
Eve, Adam being labelled as Man, su that the subsequent progress of this
figure throughout the strips represents Man's spiritual progress. The next
scene shows Man breaching God's command by Original Sin. Accordingly,
Man is bound by Disobedience in the third scene, and in the fourth is driven
forth as a bound slave to Sin. Sin is here clad as a Wild Man, signifying man's
unredeemed nature, so that Man is, so to speak, held captive by a part of
himself. This sequence is typical of the whole series. Each set of four scenes
forms in sequence a distinct theological message, and the entire series of six
rows are intended to add up to a simplified theology of salvation. The theology
is, of course, Pauline - the first row depicts the thought, expressed in
Romans 5 6, that sin came into the world through one man and that man
has thus become a slave to sin through this original act of disobedience.
In the second row, Man is tormented by Conscience and Despair. Here
Man is clad in a monastic habit to signify his attempts to please God through
169 · ·t N"G , Th~ Origin u[ Sin and Matt's Justification
Monograrnrms
works alone. In the second scene we see him tormented by Despair and
21 () Teaching the Gospel
brought by Sin and Eternal Death before the angry JUdgment of God, who is
about to pietce him with the arrow of his displeasure. In the third sccne,how-
ever, \1an receives the freely given grace of God, symbolised by the Jove of
the Holy Spirit. Having cast off the monastic habit of works, Man now kneels
naked before God. Disobedience, Sin and Eternal Death arc thus overcome,
blind Reason flees and Man's liberated Conscience soars up into the heavens.
In the final scene, this overcoming of the demands of Good Works is depicted
by showing Man felling Good Works, in the shape of a nun, with a club: Man
no longer needs Good Works. The theme of Man being driven to desperation
by his trouhled conscience faced with sin and God's wrath is found in Luther's
commentaries on Galatians and on 1 Corinthians 15. 29 Although there is no
precise passage in Luther corresponding to the train of thought in this row, it
is clearly influenced hy lutheran theology.
The third row develops this theme further, adding the role of the law.
First, Man stands between the demands of the Law, symbolised by the figure
of Moses, and of Sin and Disobedience. In the next scene, Law brings Man to
the recognition of Sin, which is seated on a throne holding Man as his bound
slave. Again, this echoes Luther in his commentary on 1 Timothy 1.6. 30 In a
reprise of the theme from the previous row, the third and fourth scenes show
Man led by Eternal Death and pursued by the Wrath of God; this leads him to
hell, whither he is driven by Despair, Conscience and Sin.
The first three rows could he taken to refer to the situation under the
Law. The fourth row introduces the Incarnation, and thus the promise of
salvation brought by Christ and the Gospel. The tlrst scene represents the
incarnation through the annunciation. The second shows Man torn between
the teaching of Christ and the advice of Reason, blindfolded and blowing into
Man's ear with a bellows. This figure embodies several of Luther's views on
reason. Reason is blinded by the malice of the Devil, and here seems to play
the role of a devil blowing evil into man's ear that we have seen before (see
ills. 68, 81, I 00, 166). Here, as elsewhere within this work Reason is dad as
'
a courtesan, recalling Luther's characterisation of reason as 'the Devil's bride
... the foremost whore the Devil has'. 31 The third scene continues this
Lutheran emphasis, with Man led by Reason carrying the figure of Good
Works towards a church. This is reminiscent of a religious procession, the
figure of Good Works resembling a saint's statue. Again, there is the echo of
Luther's view that a reason blinded by the Devil and ignorant of faith will
glorify good works, and that the blindness of human reason is so incompre-
hensible that it can form no judgment about works. 32 The outcome of such
futile efforts is shown in the fourth scene. The elusive figure of Good Works
escapes the grasping hands of Man, who lies prostrate from his efforts. He is
thus the more easily overtaken by Sin and Eternal Death.
1be fifth row expands the theme of attempts to gain righteousness by
good works. The first scene shows blind Reason, the Devil's whore, carrying
Teaching the Gospel 211
a long spear, perhaps in allusion to sin as the Devil's spear. 33 The meaning of
this scene is doubtless found in the second and third scenes, that Reason has
driven man into attempting to gain righteousness through prayer to the saints,
depicted in the second, or through fasting, the rosary or indulgences, in the
third. In this row, as in the previous row, Man is again clad in a monastic
habit to indicate his attempts to please God through works alone. Meanwhile,
Man ignores the tlgure of the crucified Christ, shown through the open :-i
church window in the second scene. In the last scene of this row Man lies
prostrate from the failure of these efforts. while he is judged by the Trinity
in heaven.
The last row provides a solution to these troubles. First Christ takes upon
himself Sin and the Devil, mounting the ladder to the cross with them as his
burden, while StJohn the Baptist and the prophets indicate his saving action.
By this means, in the second scene, Man is led up the ladder to heaven by the
angel of Faith. At the top is the figure of Christ crucified, through whom one
comes to the Father, seated in the clouds. In the final double scene Man is
followed by Persecution and the Old Adam, who seek to hold him back or
trip him up. However, Patience repells them and Man advances to the Gospel,
assisted by Faith and Hope. The Gospel, in the form of an evangelical preacher,
indicates that Man must pass through Bodily Death, but the way will lead to
the Father in heaven. This extraordinarily rich composition thus reflects
many of Luther's views on two kinds of righteousness, good works, the law,
justification and reason. It works by dramatising the story of salvation
i'
through personified theological concepts, a stock iconographic device of the
'·i
period. 34 We might ask, however, how effective this was as a pedagogic device.
It scarcely seems likely to have communicated Lutheran theology to the I I
uninitiated. The most effective use for such a work was to employ it as a
teaching aid, as a means of expounding orally the main points of evangelical
I'
i
theology, which could be suitably dramatised and spelt out line by line by a
preacher or teacher. This is an explanation made the more likely by its form
as a Bilderhogen, which was used traditionally by the German ballad-singer or
35
bench-singer to put his message across to a popular audience.
We have evidence that this kind of technique was envisaged by Refor·
mation propagandists from the pamphlet we discussed in chapter 1, A
Dialogue between a Christian and a Jew ... concerning Christ the Corner-
stone. This work was based on the idea of using a woodcut illustration to
expound the main points of evangelical belief. Although the work was pub-
lished without the woodcut, the accompanying illustration can be identified
(ill. 170), so that we can see how this expository technique was meant to
work. 36 Each_ scene is numbered, thus providing an order in which the images
are to be read. The number 1 is missing, but is clearly intended to he the
figure of the crucified Christ in the centre of the compositioo. All the geo·
metric lines of the composition converge to establish this, a point we shall
 Teaching the Gospel 213
212 Teaching the Gospel

return to later. The cross-beam of the crucifix forms the top side of a square
which shows the crucified Christ as the foundation of both Old and ~ew
Testaments. At the four corners of this square arc four figures representing
the Old Testament; reading clockwise from the left-hand corner, David, Isaiah.
Moses and Job. A smaller square set within this contains the symbols of the
four Evangelists, representing the \ew Testament. Thus, the pamphlet
exposition tells us, both Old and \'ew Testaments agree with Christ. The
Gospel shows what is commanded by Moses, David shows that no man can do
anything of his own power and must rely on God. As foretold by haiah,
7
God's grace is confened through Christ, who is to bear the sins of the world.J
Outside the square are six further figures, one on either side and one at
each corner. The three figures down the right-hand side of the crucifix (the
left from the reader's viewpoint) are those who pointed the way· to Christ.
From top to bottom these are 1ohn the Baptist; Christ's mother \1ary, who
attests the power of God and shows Christ to be the only mediator: and St
Peter, whose key signifies that Christ has conferred on him, through faith and
love, the keys of heaven. StPeter also confirms in his epistle that all believers
are a sacred priesthood. On Christ's left are three figures who foretold the
Antichrist: from top to bottom, Daniel in the lions' den, St John the Evan-
gelist and St Paul, whose sword stands for the Word as the sword of the
spirit. These six figures represent the pi !tars of Christendom for all those who
believe in Christ alone. The pamphlet commentary explicitly mentions heie
that the usual four pillars of the Church. Jerome, Ambrose, Augustine and
Gregory, have been deliberately omitted: they are to be found in the ranks of
pious Christians. 38
The arrangement of these six figures leads the reader on to numbers 2 and
3. To Christ's right, prefaced, as il were. by those who pointed the way to
Christ, is the true, the evangelical Church, all of whose members as depicted
here indicate the crucified Christ. First, there is the Good ThieL beside him,
in a pulpit, the 'evangelical preachers, such as Luther and others': further
down. an evangelical congregation, the 'Christian Church, unified without
sects according to Christ's teaching, according to the clear \Vord of God'.
Significantly, this group has been placed next to StPeter, who confirmed that
all believers are a sacred priesthood. The mounted figure before the pulpit
introduces an apocalyptic note. He is, the pamphlet tells us, the figure ,,
Faithful-and-True seated on a white horse, from Apocalypse 19.11. But '
whereas in the Apocalypse this figure stands for the Word of God who
executes God's wrath, the pamphlet takes him to signify every pious ruler
39
who receives the Gospel in his land or city and allows it to be preached.
Opposed to this Church, on Christ's left. is the Church of false belief, the
Church of the Antichrist, This is introduced by the prophetic figures who
foretold the Antichrist (Daniel, John and Paul), and reinforced by the figure
of the Babylonian whore astride the beast, holding aloft the cup of abomin-
170 Christ the Cornerstone
 214 Teaching the Gospel Teaching the Gospel 215

ations. This figure corresponds to that of Faithful-and-True on the other side, where the Jew, the character to whom the woodcut is explained, simply picks
and makes the contrast between the two Churches an eschatological con- out an image which strikes him as interesting, and asks to have it inter-
frontation. In this Church of the Antichrist there is the unrepentent thief, a preted.42 Once expounded, the visual image then served to recall the doctrine,
preacher representing the 'indulgence preachers such as Eck, Emser and a kind of evangelical adaption of •the art of memory'. 43
Cochleus', who mock, deride and despise Christ, and the crowd of papal This work seems more effective than the intricate exposition of the doc-
clergy. These are labelled in the woodcut, in reference to John I 5 .2, as the trine of justification in the Bilderbogen by NG. It relies on a carefully struc·
barren branches to be cut off from the vine of Christ. The contrast between tured use of some familiar antithetical images, but its success ultimately is
the two Churches is rounded off by that between light and darknc&s, signified
by the sun and the moon.
This contrast is continued in the top triangular section of the woodcut,
numbered 4 and 5. In the left-hand corner, with the number 4, Christ rises
from the tomb, the candelabra perhaps signifying the Saviour as the light of
the world. In the right-hand corner is a tomb, with a closed door guarded by
an angel with a sword, doubtless signifying eternal death. The bottom triangle
is more sub-divided. The number 6 indicates a closed door, possibly that of
the evangelical Church, which is unyielding to the attacks on it by a demon
with a long spear, which both woodcut and pamphlet tell us symbolises the
usages of the papal Church. 40 On the other side, a demon holds open the
portal of Satan, which the unjust will enter. The contrast now moves to the
intersecting circles above and below that containing the crucified Christ. At
the top, numbered 8, is the Holy Spirit, signifying grace; at the bottom,
numbered with 9, the realm of the world or nature. This shows Adam and
Eve forced to labour in the sweat of their brow, and Cain slaying Abel. The
final contrast is that between God the Father, indicating the risen Christ on
his right hand, numbered 10, and the mouth of hell, numbered II, the fate of
the unrighteous. 41
Exposition of this illustration thus enables a reader to be taken through
the content of the salvation message of the evangelical movement, explaining
the various signs and relating them to Reformation doctrines. Central to the
entire exposition is Christ's sacrificial death, which is emphasised by the geo-
metric composition of the schema. The cross is the centre of the Old and the
~ew Testaments. It is also the means through which divine grace flows down
from· the Father and the Holy Spirit, through the interlinked circles. It is also
the point of conflict between the true and the false Churches, for the two tri-
angles containing these overlap in the person of Christ, 'to whom even the
false Church lays claim. Christ is thus the cornerstone on which belief is built.
symbnlised by the square; formed around him (fig. I). This kind of geometric .. i
i
sc~ema was used frequently in pre-Reformation representations of articles of
faith, such as the sacraments and occasionally in the Pauper's Bible. It was
thus a famili_ar technique for addressing the unlearned. Indeed, the advantages Ii
of the nun-hnear arrangement of the message can be seen very clearly in this I
I
example. Although the sequence of thought is indicated by the consecutive
numbering, the images could be read in any order, as occurred in the pamphlet, Fig. I I
I
I!
.... ~r.
 216 Teaching the Gmpel
dependent on the strong and simple sign of the crucified Christ, and the doc-
trinal significance with which this is imbued. Indeed, the crucifixion was
perhaps the one image most consistently adapted by the Reformation as an
expression of its characteristic doctrines. Earlier emphases on the crucifixion
as a meditative, devotional image, or as an indication of an historical event
are supplanted by an allegorical representation which preaches visually th~
doctrine of the redemptive ~ignificance of the cross. 44 In almost all of the
most powerful visual images of the Reformation, the crucifixion is in some
way present.
The most effective and successful of the doctrinal representations came
from the school of Lucas Cranach, the contrast between the Law and the
Gospel, or the Old and New Testaments. 45 The earliest example from Lucas
Cranach the Elder comes from the later 1520s (ill. 171). It is based on the
a~tithcsis, a ~or~ ~1sed so often throughout Reformation propaganda. The
visual space IS divided down the centre by a tree, to the left of which is
depicted the Law as expounded in the Old Testament. In the left back-
ground, Adam and Eve eat the fruit of the tree of life after being tempted by
the serpent. As a result of this original sin, man is the prey of death and the
Dcvrl, through which he can only be damned, indicated by the two figures
171
Lucas Cranach the Elder, The Law and the Gospel, BM
....
Teaching the Gospel
hounding \ian into the jaws of hell. This is Man under the Law, signified by
2/7
I
I
Moses holding the tables of the Ten Commandments, with other Old Testa- I
ment prophets behind him. In the clouds above, Christ as Lord of the world 'i'
sits judging man, with the sword and the lily in his ears. Two figures, Mary
and John the Baptist, seek to intercede for sinful man, although in vain. The
gloomy message of the Old Testament and the l.aw, which only condemn
man, is also signified in the barren branches on the Old Testament side of the
antithesis formed by the central tree.
In opposition to the hardness of the l.aw, the Gospel brings hope, signi-
fied by the blooming branches on the New Testament side of the tree. In the
background is depicted, however, an Old Testament scene, the brazen serpent,
the figure of Christ's saving death on the cross. 46 On the hill in the right back·
ground ~ary receives the rays of heavenly grace, signifying the incarnation,
further indicated by the angel bearing the cross down to her. To the left,
another angel brings the news of the birth of the Saviour to the shepherds on
the hills in Bethlehem. The main figures on this side depict the events through
which the Gospel message is realised. The crucified Christ sheds his saving
blood in a stream onto man. Through the agency of the Holy Spirit, the dove
through which the stream passes, this becomes the saving water of baptism.
Man has his attention called to the sacrificial death of Christ by the figure of
John the Baptist. Beneath the crucifix is the paschal lamb, the symbol of
Christ's victorious death, which is completed by his resurrection. This is
depicted in the bottom right-hand corner, where Christ overcomes death and
the apocalyptic beast, representing the Devil. This completes man's release
from sin and death, neatly balancing the corresponding depiction on the far
left.
This schema became one of the most popular themes of the Reformation,
largely because it captured so effectively the gist of Luther's doctrine. Indeed,
it seems to have been almost directly inspired by some of Luther's expositions
on the theme of the Law and the Gospel, such as that in his commentary on
Galatians 4 ' It was a wholly biblical depiction and relied on signs accessible
to every person of the time. Above all, it established a uniquely evangelical
position, without reference to papal or Catholic teaching. lt could be used
purely as a visual representation, or supplied with appropriate biblical refer-
ences, as in illustration 171. The l.aw is headed by a citation from Romans 'I
1.18: 'The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and '
wickedness of men.' The Gospel is headed by a verse of Isaiah 7.14, which
shows the prophetic link between Old and New Testaments: 'The Lord him-
self will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a
son.' Beneath the depiction of the Law are quotations spelling out its signifi-
cance (Romans 3.23; 1 Corinthians !5.56; Romans 4.15; Romans 3.20 and
Matthew 11.13). The Gospel is likewise supplied with texts on faith (Romans
1.17 and 3.21 -both classic expressions of the basic Lutheran doctrine that
 218 Teaching the Gospel Teachinx the Gospel 2/<i

the just live through faith), and expressing the hope of salvation (John 1.29;
I
·II• I Peter 1.2 and I Corinthians 15.55 ). The combination of scriptural texts and
~
visual signs expressing their content made such a depiction the evangelical
version of the Pauper's Bible. 4 R
! This became a popular theme with Cranach and his school, especially for
altarpieces. 49 Artists from this school who used the theme included Melchior
Sachs, Hans Brosamer and Peter Gottland. 50 More importantly, in terms of
our main interest here, it formed a popular theme for titlepages. It was, for
example, a natural choice for editions of the Bible and was used in the title-
page of the 1541 Wittenberg Bible in Luther's translation 51 This added a
polemical note by showing the Devil wearing a cardinal's hat, and a monk and
a pope writhing in the flames of hell. The schema was often slightly rearranged
in these titlepages, as in that of the I 541 Wittenberg edition of the New
Testament in Low German (ill. 172) 52 Here the brazen serpent is placed on
the Old Testament side and the Adam and Eve depiction is moved into the
middle ground as a counterpart to the risen Christ slaying death and the Devil.
Thus, we move across from the serpent's victory over Adam and Eve to
Christ's victory over the serpent in the shape of the beast.
Another version, used frequently in Wittenberg editions from 1537 46.
has begun to reduce the schema to the dimensions of a decorative border (ill.
173). 53 The basic antithesis is still suggested by the withered and hlnoming
sides of the tree 111 the centre. The Old Testament and the Law are indicated
by God giving Moses the tablets of the Law in the top left-hand corne1,
beneath this the Fall. and Man pursued to hell by death and the Devil in the
hot tom left, while Moses and the prophets indicate the Ten Commandments.
Reading down the right-hand Gospel side. we see the annunciation. the death
of Christ, the lamb and flag and the risen Saviour conquering death and the
Devil. TI1e figure of man is not repeated on this side. John the Baptist merely
looks across to man pursued by death and the Devil and indicates the cruci-
fied and risen Christ with two hand gestures. while Man looks back over his
shoulder towards the saving teaching of the i'Jcw Testament. Following
Cranach's earlier model of this composition, the brazen serpent and the
proclamation of the news of Christ's birth to the shepherds are squeezed in
behind the figure of John the Baptist.
The pedagogic propaganda we have considered so far exemplifies two
tendencies. It communicates the central doctrines of the Reformation, so

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220 Teaching the Gospel Teaching the Gospel 221

establishing the content of right belief, but alongside this it also seeks to
establish a clear-cut notion of the true Church. This Church is identified by
its defining characteristics. Besides biblical belief and doctrine, it consists of
divine inspiration, preaching, the emphasis it places on Christ and his saving
Word and the usc of the sacraments (baptism, confession and the Lord's
Supper). It defines the true Church essentially as the Lutheran Church, for
the iconography draws clear lines between Lutheran belief and that of other
signifying Hus and his demand to have the Bible placed in the hands of the
laity 55 The work thus expresses the part played by both Hus and Luther in
the revival of the Bible and so of salvific doctrine. This is a counterpart, per-
haps, to the depiction of Luther and Hus distributing communion, stressing
their role in restoring the cup to the laity. We saw in chapter 2 that the idea II
of an evangelical tradition encompassing Luther and Hus was expressed at an
early stage in the development of Luther iconography. How far this idea of an 'I
'

evangelical groups. The emphasis on baptism, especially infant baptism,
clearly distinguishes it from Anabaptist belief. Its stress on the real presence
in the communion drew a clear dividing line between Lutheran and Zwinglian
54
belief. A final stage is the identification of a territorial Church, with its own
tradition and its own confessors and saints. We can trace the development of
this final stage through several woodcuts dating from the 1540s.
Some of these works take up the signs established in the early iconography
of Luther. In a broadsheet published sometime after Luther's death in 1546
(ill. 174), we see a full-length depiction of Luther holding a crucifix. Blood
streams from the hands of the crucified Christ, and above, the Holy Spirit
shines on both Luther and the crucifix. Luther is thus identified as part of the
work of saving grace. Behind Luther, at his feet, a goose reads in a book,
. .
~1{1) IVaY"Md' (h~1it "=:-(lcfu clC•
~bu.~lh iD_l,., """"'" r";:~,.. ,,,,~..,,
z·.~~':'-~:,s:.::;~;";:~t'~·t.::!;~;:~.".~'~-~~;;~
~tilt'"'"....,._"_ u<qL•>ttl>o-r',.~,~ itlocol "'"" ;,p, tl.-
<l!<n l< .. no-•nnb on~'""" P"''i"" ~""" .t""'P' >'""I
~!':n~~~:;;~~r.:~~~r::r:~ n~·;,~:f~·:.·~.".::·~: :·,~
oo<~~•rqo•IO<oS<JI<"'"''" ... , '("''' h~<" [l'olo, ••·0
'""'"~ou(old,.nmA"*•IIrn'I"P'" lt(!t<'l .,.",.
evangelical tradition could develop can be seen in a Czech broadsheet showing
the stages of revival of the Gospel (ill. 175). This shows Wyclif kindling a
spark in a tinder box, from which Hus takes a light. From Hus's taper Luther
lights a larger light, which then becomes a large torch. From this torch the
light and flame is passed on to Melanchthon. All this occurs under the dtvme
inspiration of the Holy Spirit. This gradual revival and transference of the
light echoes the Holbein woodcut on the light of the world. It also estabhshes
both a clear history of the origins of the Reformation and a kind of apostolic
succession among the founders of the evangelical movement.
This example is interesting, but others did not show its awareness ~f the
international origins of the Reformation. Luther was more often see~ m the
context of the Saxon origins of the Reformation, no doubt reflectmg the
inOuence of the Cranach school of artists. Thus, a woodcut showing Luther
and the Elector John Frederick kneeling before the crucified Christ (ill. 176)
emphasises the Reformation's reliance on princely protectio~. Luther is com·
memorated as the man who taught the saving death of thnst, the Elector as
56
the man responsihle for furthering the revival of true belief. This was a
5
popular subject, with three woodcut versions and an etching. .., The last bears
an inscription spelling out the message of the woodcuts, that both men are

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174 Luther with Crucifix and a G;JOSt', Wickiana t 75 Wvclij; Hu.s, Luther and Melancllthun as Reformers

222 Teaching the Gospel
united under the cross as those who have suffered for the sake of Christ. This
kind of depiction has been labelled 'the Reformers and patrons of the Refor-
mation', but it has hints of Protestant martyrology about it, and above all is
analogous to the pre-Reformation devotional picture. 58
The devotional purpose of such illustrations is stated clearly in a woodcut
which also served as a book illustration, entitled A Hymn, 'Preserve Us Lord,
with Your Word' (ilL 177). It depicts God the Father enthroned in glory,
beside him the risen Christ thrusting the pope, the Turk and members of
the Catholic hierarchy into helL Standing to the left as witnesses of thrs
scene are Luther, who indicates the risen Christ, and two princes, probably
Frederick the Wise and John Frederick, as well as three reformers, Melanch-
thon, llus and Caspar Cruciger. On the right stand the family of the house of
Saxony, six women, one of whom is Sibylla of Cleves, wife of John Frederick,
two children and an old man. The printed text contains a prayer in five
verses, invoking the protection of Christ and the Holy Spirit against the
danger of the Turk and the pope. 59
This work is thus commemorative and devotional at the same time. It
recalls the victory of true, evangelical belief over the unbelief of the papacy
and the infidel, stating clearly that this is a work of God to which the
Reformers and princes are witnesses. Luther, in particular, is the man who has
pointed out this development, placing him in a near·prophetic position. ·The
devotional intent is embodied in the prayer or hymn supplied with the
visual text. Like the pre-Reformation devotional picture, it was intended to
recall the work of God and so inspire to prayer.
The idea of the evangelical witnesses or confessors is taken a step further
176
Luther and John frederick before the Cruci.fix, Berlin
Teaching the Gospel 223
by another type of depiction, which shows the baptism of Christ in the
presence of the Reformers and protectors of the Gospel (ill. 17R). On the
right, Christ is baptised by John the Baptist, while God the Father sends the
dove of the Holy Spirit to impart his blessing on the Saviour. On the left. this
scene is witnessed by Luther, who indicates it with his left hand, and by John
Frederick Sibvlla of Cleves and their three sons, who all kneel besrdc Luther.
In [he ba~kgr~und is the identifiable outline of Wittenberg. The print~d text
instructs the reader that Christ is the only Son of God, and it is to him that
one should turn in need, not to creatures or idols. Christ alone is Saviour
through his death on the cross. Luthe1 made this known from th~ small :ow~
of Wittenberg, and John Frederick confessed the same doctnne until his
death, as did his family. From such a depiction the reader should see how on_e
must live under the cross and be constant in belief in God's Word. This
injunction, with which the text closes, recalls John Frederick's s~ffe~·ing for
the Gospel through his imprisonment following the SchmalkaldJ_c War, also
alluded to in an earlierwork(see ill. 165). Here, Luther is once agam accorded
·
a quasi-prophetic· status, signi
· ·r·Je db y h.IS m
· d'Ica t'IVe gesture and the
.
fact that
he stands as a witness to the baptism of Christ, placing a protective hand on
60
the shoulder of the prince.
((;:;,n~:~·.·:,;,:.~:: ;::::?~~:
-~,r<t>""' "'" !•~· n •• ~ .. ~~· .
~,.f•l•ol,•'"'""'"~'"'·
177 A Hymn 'PreserJ.."e us Lord with your Word', Berlin
224 Teaching the Gospel 225

This work also appeared in a Latin version, 61 but the same theme was
developed more elaborately in another large woodcut showing the baptism set
before the walls of Nuremberg (ill. 179), This is a Bilderbogen of five blocks,
the whole depiction thus having an impressive size suitable for formal public
display. In the centre is the baptism scene, to the left a large group of the
princes of Saxony and Brandenburg, who supported the Reformation during
its first period of struggle to the end of the 1550s. The likenesses are very
crude, and the artist has therefore added the names of the persons intended:
the E1ector Augustus, George Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg, George
the Pious, Margrave of Brandenburg, Margrave Albert of Brandenburg, John
the Wise, Margrave of Brandenburg, the Elector Maurice of Saxony, John
Frederick the Mittler, Heinrich of Saxony, George the Rich of Saxony, John 'i
the Constant and Frederick the Wise. 62
The ranks of the Reformers contain some surprises. These are also labelled
by the artist: Hus, Luther, Melanchthon, Justus Jonas, Caspar Cruciger,
Johann Bugenhagen, Paul Eber, Johann Aepinus, Johann Forster, Georg
Major, Johann Pfeffinger, Erasmus and Sebastian Frbschel. The inclusion of
Erasmus among the Reformers is surprising, although it is by no means
unique. 63 The deht of the evangelical movement to Erasmus' biblical scholar·
ship was increasingly acknowledged by the 'second generation' of the Refor·
mation. 64 The other Reformers all had close links to the Saxon Reformation
and to Wittenberg. One or two had links with Nuremberg," but the town ~
outline of that city seems to have been included largely for its close connec· "
tion with the Saxon Reformation from the beginning of the evangelical "'!!.'
~
.c ~i:
;!),,
E ill'
"''
~
~.·.
~
~

'
"'"'- lir
~:
-
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6'
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I 78 The Baptism of Christ before Wittenberg '
.,
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 226 Teaching the Gospel
1
I movement. This large illustration clearly served to commemorate the 'found-
l' ing fathers' of the Reformation through its princely protectors and leading
I' theologians. It also served a devotional and confessional purpose, for it is
li,, supplied with the text of the Creed, written in the boxes in the top left- and
right-hand corners.
I The baptism of Christ before the Reformers and evangelical princes was a
I; popular theme of the middle years of the sixteenth century. Besides the
versions already discussed, there was another woodcut showing four princes
in armour and four Reformers before an outline of Nuremberg and an oil
painting involving princes from the house of Brandenburg from 1556. 66 A
more simplified version of the theme merely shows John Frederick and
Luther kneeling to each side of the baptism depiction (ilL 180). The inter-
pretation of this type of depiction is a matter of dispute. For Protestant
commentators, they represent commemorative allegories of the origins of the
Reformation. 67 The 1556paintinghas been seen as an allegory of the religious
peace of Augsburg. By emphasising baptism, the sacrament which was shared
in common with Catholics, this is said to be an irenic gesture towards the idea
of a wider Christian community 68 This interpretation hardly seems to fit the
various versions of the theme, especially its exclusive stress on the Saxon
Reformation and Reformers. Moreover, the cuius regia, eius religio principle
T
-J..... 'j
-...::!. '
·•~ .
~::-1.-·
. ' _j -
.
~~-
180 . Luther a':d John Frederick as Witnesses of the
Baptzsm of Chrlst, Albertina
Teachinx rhe Gospel .?27
established in the Augsburg peace of 1555 is directly opposed to any such
irenicism. The commemoration in these works of those princes who actively
promoted Lutheranism as the sole faith in their territories seems to point m
the nppositc Jirection.
As has often been the case in the woodcuts we have examined. the baptism
type fulfills several purposes at once. First, it is intended tn make a theological
point, to stress Christ as the chosen and only Saviour on whom men should
rely. Here, it should be seen as an image complementing those of the crucified
and the risen Christ, through which the evangelical movement sought 10
express its doctrinal content. Second, it commcmoJates the witnes~es and
confessors of the movement, although it is clearly conceived in a na1 1 ow
Saxon perspective. It is close to the third purpose, which is devotional. to
serve as an aid to prayer. This is shown by the inclusion of a prayer or hymn
in some versions. Here it stood close to pre-Reformation devotional represen-
tation, the version featuring only Luther and John frederick resembling in
form a triptych altarpiecc. 59 Finally, there is no doubt that it identifie~ a
Church, an institution with ecclesiastical leaders and secular protcc!ors. This
tendency is clear in many earlier examples of pedagogic propaganda. Here the
emphasis falls on a territorial Church. with both spiritual and secular heads.
One implication of such depictions placing historical figures in the frame·
work of divine events is that the Rcformalion is on the way to producing Its
own hagiography, its own catalogue of saints, confessors and Church Fathers.
The images of Luther which circulated from the heginning of the evangelical
movement began the lrcnd, and it was continued in those later works, such as
illustration \67. which presented him as a divinely inspired prophet (sec also
ills. I (,5 and 174). few other figures achieved this status, except llus perhaps.
However, the tendency to glorify the leaders of the Lutheran Church con-
tinued by placing them in divine situations, rather in t~c .same fashio·n· as
patmns in pre-Reformation religious painting. Thus, a patnttng of the nmmg
of Lazarus created as an epilaph for the Nordhauscn :Vtayor Metenberg
featured familiar figures of major Reformers (including Erasmus). a Last.
Supper in the castle church of Dcssau included Reformers in_ the p~ace of
apostles, and a Last Supper depiction in the predella of an altar m Rhcmsbe!J
not only depicted Reformers as apostles, but gave them h.alo.es as well.
With this kind of development, which takes place largely wrthrn the frame·
work of church art, we pass out o f t hc area o j. popu 1·ar propaganda " it has·
heen discussed in ihis book.
How successful was popular propagan . da as a j"or m of t-nstruction? How .far
did it serve to identify a distinctive theological viewpoint for the RetoJ-
mation? It certainly created a number of powerful images associated wit~ -~he
figure of Luther. Others were less distinctive- the emphasis nn the ClllCihed
Christ was as much a part of Catholic visual representation, an~ could not be
seen as any exclusively evangelical image. There was certamly the clea1
!.
228 Teaching the Gospel
presentation of a distinctive Church, particularly in the portrayal of a terri-
torial Church, seen in the group of depictions we have just examined. These
were, however, more historical than theological in tone, and presupposed an
existing allegiance to Lutheranism. 'The only widely successful theological
depiction was the antithesis of the Law and the Gospel, attested to by the
frequency of its use. That pedagogic propaganda produced so little that was
positive, compared to the undeniable success of its anti-papal features, is
significant for our overall assessment of visual propaganda. This will be the
purpose of the last chapter.
8
THE RHETORIC OF THE IMAGE
The argument that has developed throughout this book has something of
paradox about it. The Reformation was undeniably part of a movement from
an image to a print culture, and was directed against popular culture and
popular belief. 1 We have seen Reformation propaganda using, and thus
accepting, popular culture; not breaking images but remaking them. The
puzzle is even deeper: would not the advocates of the old order have
attempted to marshal all the powerful emotive force attached to the images
of the old belief in order to combat the new? Curiously, however, there was
surprisingly little counter-propaganda from the side of orthodoxy. There
seems to be little or no reason why the same weapons of popular propaganda
could not be turned against the Reformation. Although there were a few
attempts to do so, they rarely attained the creative brilliance of the evangelical
propagandists.
Examples of anti-Lutheran broadsheets can be found from the very early
days of the movement, perhaps as early as 1520 or 1521. One of these (ill.
181) depicts 'Luther's game of heresy', and seeks to associate Luther with
vice and the Devil. It shows Luther brewing up a huge cooking-pot, assisted
by three devils, while two others provide music for the scene. Luther is clad
in his monastic habit, with a diabolical raven perched on his shoulder. From
the pot arise the fumes of all kinds of vice- falsehood, unbelief, pride, envy,
scandal, disobedience, contempt, haughtiness, lies, heresy, blasphemy,
unchastity, fleshly freedom, disorder and disloyalty. Each of the flgures
depicted has been given a text. Luther's refers to what he ladles from the pot:
'I take out falsehood and deceit, I am ashamed of no evil.' The two devils
supplying music express their glee at Luther's game, and the other devil who
assists Luther at the pot states that he will mix gall and poison in the brew,
for the simple man will not notice it. The four larger blocks of text serve as a
commentary on the scene. As a simple man, the writer states, he could easily
see what Luther was up to in !520. Luther will produce only dissension, con·
tempt of authority and bloodshed, a prophecy which the author hopes will
prove false. In an attempt to capture the tone of popular prophecy, the
author names himself the 'loyal Eckart', a prophetic figure from medieval
epic who warns of impending disaster, and who in popular folklore warns of
the coming of the wild horde-'
The sheet attempts to discredit Luther through several associations. First,
he is linked to the Devil, perhaps the most distinct visual message. Next, he is
22Y
2.10 The rhetoric of the imaf{e The rhetoric of the imaf{r: ]31

associated with vice, disunity and above all with social disturbance. Thirdly,
popular prophecy and folklore were invoked to establish Luther as an ominous
figure. Yet all these associations are carried largely by the printed text. Only
the raven perched on Luther's shoulder might provide a visual link to the
tradition of popular prophecy, alluding perhaps to the monk with the Devil
on his shoulder, foretold in Uchtenherger's prophecy. who was to raise dis-
sension in the Church. The text fails to explDit this feature, and the allusion
to the tlgure of Eckart is left implicit. :Konethelcss, this broadsheet appeared
in a second edition, where Luther is now shown bearded, in plain allusion to
his disguise as Junker George, adopted in the Wartburg in 152!. The 1 aven
has been replaced. by a locust, but this second version is otherwise identical
with the first. Some annotations have been added by a reader of the extant
copy of this second edition. Luther is labelled with his name. the word 'devil'
is written next to the locust, and the words 'pot of quarrels' on the cooking-
pot3
This broadsheet is typical of the limitations of the small quantity of anti-
Lutheran visual propaganda that has survived. it relied heavily on the literacy
of the reader and had an unimaginative visual message, usually assoCJating
luther with the Devil. But even good ideas for propaganda were not fully
exploited. A book illustration shows the 'statue of a heretic', with a figure
4
atop a pedestal who is clearly intended to oe Luther (ill. 1H2) A winged
demon blows into his ear with a bellows, thus showing him to be inspired by
the Devil. Below are two devils about to drag him f10m his pedestal by means
of a chain tied around his feet, so that he will fall into the flames of hell tire
which lick around the pedestal base. Tlus \V3S a clever visual idea, neatly
reminding those who idolised Luther that anyone set up on a pedestal coulU
be toppled. It implied that he had been raised up by the Devil, and would be
toppled by the Devil. The devil with the bellows might be seen as a reply to
the motif of the dove by which Luther's divine insp1ration was proclaimeU by
his followers. With all this potential. the illustration was completely wasted as
popular propaganda. It appears as an illust~arion in a Latin work enumerating
all the heretics since the beginnings of Christianity, and is tucked away on an
inside page where it would hardly attract casual attention. Certainly. it was
repeated on the last page of the work, but could nDt be expected to achieve
its maximum effect from there.
A visual association between Luther and the Devil was used more success-
fully in the titlepage of a polemical work of 1535, accusing Luther of alliance
with the Devil (ill. 183).~ Luther wear~ his doctor's cap. and has his hand llll
the Bible. in imitation of the early depictions. He is clasping hands wJth a
devil to his left, a sign of their concluded agreement. That this pact i~ 6sealed
with Luther's hand on the Bible establishes its blasphemous nature. The
small demon whispering into Luther\ ear signi11es Lulher·s dtaholical inspi-
1 Sl Luther's Game of Herst>y ration. The caption puns on the names Luther and Lucifer to show that both
232 The rhetoric of the image
have the same qualities, The rhymed text beneath the woodcut tells the reader
that no frivolity or joke is intended; the pamphlet tells the earnest truth,
attested by holy Scripture. This was an effective reply to similar works from
the evangelical side, at least by successfully linking Luther to the Devil and
citing Scripture as proaL Such examples of skilful popular presentation, how-
ever, are rare.
Another skilful work can be found in the titlepage of a pamphlet from
1529 by Johann Cochleas (ilL 184), Cochleas was one of Luther's most
voluble and able opponents, and has sense enough to issue this pamphlet in
7
German as well as Latin. It exploits both the monster tradition and the
apocalyptic overtones of the scven.headed beast, confronting the reader with
'th~ seven-headed Luther'. As a visual image it is more precise than the cvan-
geltcal use of the same theme, The Seven-headed Papal Beast (see ilL 75),
because It attempts to identify each of the seven heads as a different face of
Luther. Each head is labelled, although the labels do not always fit exactly
the head as depicted, Luther as doctor is represented by a head with a doctor's
cap, as Martin by the head of a monk, signifying St Martin, perhaps an ironic
182 Statua haeticali.s Dahlem
183 ' .
. T!tlepage toP. Sylvius, Luther u.nd Lutz hers
emtrechtige vereinigung ( 153 5)
The rhetoric of the image 233
contrast with the true Catholic saint. The head labelled Luther is depicted as
a Turk by a turban. therefore as an infidel. In the centre the label Ecclesiast
reminds the reader that Luther was a priest, indeed one 'who preaches what
the mob wishes to hear'. The fifth head represents him as a fanatic, hair
standing wildly on end and surrounded by hornets. 1lte sixth head is that of
the Church Visitor, a new office reviving laws in the old fashion, as Cochleus
puts it in the text, thus accusing Luther of setting himself up as a new pope.
The last head is labelled Barabbas, the robber released by Pilate in place of
Christ. However, the head depicted is that of a Wild Man, signified by his
club. In parody of Luther iconography, the seven-headed figure wears a
monk's habit and reads from a book, signifying that Luther has as many
messages as he has heads. 8
This illustration was effective propaganda, but by 1529 it was too little
too late, The papacy had already been identified too successfully with the
monstrous and with the beast of the Apocalypse by numerous works of evan-
gelical propaganda, As a parody of Luther iconography, The Seven-headed
Luther seems to be more a defensive reaction than an aggressive attack on
Luther's heresy, It also failed to develop the apocalyptic overtones of the
monster theme. Another variation of this image is found in the titlepage of a
second work by Cochlcus published in 1529, this time a two-headed Luther
(ilL 185), The left head is labelled Palinodus, someone who sings a stock
P!ALOGVS DE BELLO CONTRA
Turcas, in.Anal~ Luth<ti. per loanncm
~,db
XV.Conmdi&onrs,a: uo uspnmtS''
Q!.tatemiombusLibriluthaici dt" bello.
coornTurru, M, D, XXIX.
i
I
!.
fi
I 84 The Seven-headed Luther ( !529), BL
185 Titlepage to J. Cochleus, DU:zlogus de bello contra
Turcas, in Antilogias Lutheri (1529), BL
'
!
]34 The rhetoric of the imaJ;e

refrain.'J The right head is. lahelled as Luther. and is bearded in reminiscence
The rhetoric of the image 235

of Luther as Junker c;corgc. but the addition of a club also makes it an <Illusion
to the Wild Man. It is a title page tCl a Latin work, and with its limited layers
of connotation demonstrates clearly the difference in polemical quality from
evangelical propaganda.
The Wild \1an allusion w·as one of the few popular cultural signs taken up
by anti-Lutheran propaganda. There was also the occasional trick- or joke-
depiction. In imitation of the cardinal -fool (see ill. 134). there was a
Luther fool, supplied with texts in German and Latin (ill. 1H6).
10
Another
example, without text_ resembled a trick postcard. Flaps could be turned over
at both top and bottom in six steps to reveal a different figure. One began
with a monk with a rosary, turned a flap to reveal a nun with a rosary, then a
nun holding up her dress obscenely. The card was then reversed for the next
sequence, showing with successive turns of the flaps a quack holding up a
urine bottle, Luther holding the open Bible, and finally Luther holding up his
habit obsccnely. 11 Although clever and scurrilous, this had little clear
polemical intent, and could be read as much as an attack on the Catholic
clergy as on Luther. However it is typical of the tone of what often passed
' CF.FVHm;~NOllVat
<:;: ::.:~ JltAII)~uw• .-
for anti-Lutheran propaganda during the second half of the sixteenth and into
the seventeenth century. It attacked Luther as immoral, a drunkard or
degenerate. A good example is a broadsheet from the late sixteenth century
(ill. 187), based on one of Hans Weidill's grotesque depictions, The Wme·
sack. 12 Luthe1 is shown with a giant beer mug, his stomach so bloated that he
must push it around in a wheelbarrow. On his back he carries a commode full
of his followers, and in the barrow the books of his fellow heretics-- Melanch-
thon, Zwingli. Oecolampadius and Calvin. Behind him trots Katherina von
Bora, carrying on her back the Bible and a pannier. Clad as a nun, she bears
13
their illcgi timate child, sola fide or 'faith alone' .
Perhaps the only extensive use of visual themes drawn from popular cul-
ture to be found in Catholic propaganda was made by Thomas :\-1urner, in his
Great I.utheran Fool of 1522. 14 This was written in verse, richly illustrated
with woodcuts and reminiscent of a carnival play. It drew on all kinds of
themes from popular culture and popular belief to satirise the followers of
Luther. The chief follower is the Great Lutheran Fool, a giant fool who is
stuffed with many lesser fools. They are in his head, his stomach. his ears, his
boots and his wallet. Jn allusion to the old carnival custom of the .Varren-
schneiden. Murncr seeks to extract all these fools, only here he uses
exorcism .. The work is rich in allusions to carnival, and Luther's followers are
identifled with the fool-puppets of carnival in both printed and visual text .

.·. .
.._.:~~,__.,..._...._.,

~~";:,.:..'"";;::;::-.....,.,_
.,.... .... ,.,._,.. ........._ , _ [
~·

~~:;r,..---~
··.:.-.-:_" ~- ......... ~-

186 187 Luther as Winesack, Berlin

236 The rhetoric of the image
The development is purely comic, in the style of the carnival play. Murner
exorcises the fools with nonsense formulae, lures them out by caterwauling
and removes the fool Karsthans from the Great Fool's belly by means of a
purge (ill. 188). Two others are crushed from the Great Fool in a winepress
(ill. 189). Murner thus attempts to match the use of grotesque realism on the
evangelical side, culminating at the end of his work where Luther is thrown
down the privy (ill. 190).
One batch of fools who cannot wait to emerge from the body of the Great
Fool are fifteen footsoldiers, a satire on the series of popular pamphlets by
Eberlin von Gunzburg, the Fzjieen Confederates. 15 With a shrewd perception
of contemporary social fears, Murner develops a long section in this part of
his satire which attempts to associate Luther with the Bundschuh. Luther
forms a league or Hund, the core of which is provided by the fifteen mer·
cenaries. To these are added three riders, each bearing the Bundschuh on their
shields. They elect Luther as their captain, who is then shown greasing a
Bundschuh in expectation of a popular rebellion (ill. 191). Murner was here
using a nicely calculated technique of guilt by association. Besides overtly
identifying the evangelical movement with the symbol of peasant rebellion in
6
188 lllustr~tio~ toT. Murner, Von dem grossen J.utherischen
Narren (1. Gnennmger, Strassburg, 1522), BL ll517.c.33, foL Riii
189 Von dem grussen Lutherischen Narren, l'ol. Si
The rhetoric of the image 237
the generation before the Reformation, Murner also tried to identify Luther's
supporter> with the I.andsknechte, men from the lowest level of society
feared for their disorderliness and brutality. This charge was levelled most
blatantly by depicting three haughty Landsknechte bearing banners em·
blazoned with the slogans of the evangelical movement, 'Gospel', 'Freedom'
and 'Truth' (ills. 192-4). 16 In the written text supporters of the old Church
attack this as a usurpation of the three slogans, while the visual text implies
that the new Gospel and its freedom is that of the brigand." However,
Murner uses his knowledge of popular culture to go even beyond this. One
Landsknecht newly returned from France, Brother Veit, decides not to join
Luther's league. How can he swear by the saints if the Lutherans now regard
them as useless' If the saints are turned out of the Church, to whom shall he
turn in time of need.ts Here Murner shows a shrewd propagandist sense. On
the one hand Luther's movement is rejected by someone from the lowest
elements of s~ciety - his small and eccentric band is lower even than the
Landsknecht Brother Veit. On the other, Murner appeals to the functionalist
element in popular religion: if his saints be taken away from him, to whom
shall the common man turn in distress?
Murner returns to the comic, carnivalesque theme in the last section of his
__
ll'teocm lutper lem Ieibfal mit...,
rinon "'~"' ~,r.q,n Br~ongm .-tirr.
'I
i
1-l~--
I,
~JE•Iat(mltun ~~miran
TOir to.o t>it mtl! !'tin fmc!>r fol ~··
I
~ l• can b" .. ~in can lcl><n
190 Von dem grossen Lutherischen Narren, fol. d_3 v
l
141 Von dem grossen Lutherischen Narren, fol. 14 v
 The rhetoric of the image 239
238 The rhetoric of the image

work. Luther and his band first attack a monastery, which is plundered, and appeared without place of publication, perhaps pieced together from parts of
20
the confiscated edition. but it seems to have gained no wide circulation.
then a castle defended by Murner in the form of a cat, the theriomorphic
Murner had certainly tried to use themes and techniques similar to those
form through which Murner was attacked in evangelical propaganda. 19 The
found in evangelical propaganda. His knowledge of contemporary popular
attackers are unable to capture the stronghold, hut Murner strikes an agree-
culture seems unrivalled, and he tried to blend this with a skilful use of wood-
ment with Luther, whereby he will give up the castle in return for the hand
cut and rhyme. The work was perhaps too long ·· it runs to 4800 lines -and
of Luther's daughter. The Cat· Murner courts the daughter and marries her
too untidy in structure to have been genuinely popular, even without the
with great pomp, only to find on his wedding night that she has the pox.lr.
intervention of the Strassburg authorities. The Great Lutheran Fool nonethe-
good Lutheran fashion, Murner declares the wedding to he null and void. At
less stands alone as the showpiece of Catholic counter-propaganda. ln this
the news of this affront to his family honour, Luther sickens and dies, with-
regard it demonstrates the futility of the Catholic response - it was too
out the benefit of the sacraments. To the accompaniment of caterwauling by
meagre and too limited to have any large-scale or long-term impact.
Mur~er and a choir of'cloister cats', he is interred in the privy, a carnivalcsque
The weight of propaganda, then, was overwhelmingly on the side of the
constgnment to hell. Finally, the Great Fool himself sickens and dies and
Reformation. Was this just because the producers of propaganda sniffed the
Luther, inexplicably revived, contends with others for possession of his
way the wind was blowing aod shrewdly followed the popular trend'' Or did
fool's cap.
they make the trend. as we have tacitly assumed throughout the discussion
Murner's work was undeniably a witty, satirical tour de force, but it is
so fa1, by swinging Popular opinion behind the new belief in and through
difficult to gauge its impact. In producing the book, the Strassburg printer oi
their works? We have spoken throughout as though the propagandists stood
the first ed1t1on, Johann Gri.ininger, transgressed an earlier prohibition of
outside the propaganda process. The artists and publishers responsible for
scurrilous pamphlets. The Strassburg council ordered all stocks to be seized
broadsheet propaganda were not just seeking to manipulate public opinion.
and burned, and copies already sold to be rounded up. A second edition
but also expressing their fervent conviction of the conectness of evangelical

.f<ril~ fo:in ~i· ftti g;, ftd

'Vnfp.Wr vn6 «.l<rrinelll~ml
SA13U~rlm ~irfrn ~tri. .
J2'ae tro~fenlm.
Wtt litgm nim\al19 fo~.n 'OCrjl"rL
9n: mUji~Y t~;ifemfwlin gon

192 Vun dem grossen Lutherischen Narren fol 04

t Y3 Von de m grossen L utherischen Narren,, fol.· Pi vv 194 Von dem grossen Lutherischen /'v'arren, fol. P2 v
 240 The rhetoric of the image The rhetoric of the image 24/

belief. This is indicated by the fact that most operated from the major centres commitment at any cost. They spoke to them from a common cultural back-
of the Reformation in Germany Wittenberg, Nuremberg, Strassburg, Augs- ground, drawing on and adapting creatively the traditions in which they had
burg and Magdeburg. been trained as artists.
The most prolific source of propaganda was the Cranach ~chool, operating Other centres stood far behind these two in their production of propa-
from Wittenberg or Weimar. Lucas Cranach the Elder worked closely with ganda. Strassburg owes its reputation for visual propaganda predominantly to
Luther in the production of numerous works, often following Luther's the work of Hans Baldung Grien, although Hans Weiditz and Hieronymus
instructions as to their content. His evangelical fervour and that of his son, Resch were also active there during the first two decades of the Reformation.
Lucas the Younger, is undoubted and the two created a school of Reformation From the late 1560s Tobias Slimmer revived this earlier tradition. Augsburg
propaganda which extended over half a century. 21 Other artists associated also stood well behind Nuremberg, with Leonhard Beck, Hans Weiditz and
with the Cranachs who produced works examined in this book were Melchior the Master HS. Magdeburg came to the fore during the age of the Interim,
Sachs, Hans Brosamer, Jacob Lucius and the Masters IR, BP, Hand AF. The with Pangratius Kempf! responsible for many of the items traceable there."
Cranach school was the origin of a Lutheran orthodoxy in its pedagogic The Magdeburg contribution epitomises the intentions of popular propa·
propaganda, creating a picture of an Established Church under the aegis of ganda .. it was part of an active struggle for the Gospel, an attempt to influ-
~he t_erri_torial prince, as well as being largely responsible fnr the iconographic ence the course of events by visual polemic.
rdeahsatwn of Luther which presented him as the German prophet. There~ There is, however, an important difference between what we have called
the two 'generations'. During the 1520s and 1530s the propagandists were
no_ q_uestion that this school set out to force public opinion along the road to
working out symbols of attachment to the Gospel and of aversion to the
~ehg~ou~ reform, in much the same way as Wittenberg itself became the
mspuatwnal centre of the new movement. papacy, and techniques of conveying these to their readers. By the 1540s
many of these were established as part of the visual vernacular, part of the
!fie_ same kind of commitment is evident in the work of the propagandists
tradition presupposed by younger artists. Two figures who epitomise this
active In Nuremberg, a city with the closest ties to Wittenberg. Active in the
younger generation are Melchior Lorch and Mathias Gerung. Both were
fust generatiOn, during the 1520s and 1530s, were the brothers Hans Sebald
artists of great skill and fiery evangelical fervour, who grew up with an inbred
Behcm and Barthold Bchem. Georg Penu, Erhard Schoen and Peter Fl6tner.
hatred of the papacy." They had seen it as nothing other than brutally and
From the 1540s onwards there were the publishers Hans Glaser and Srefan
Hamer, and artrsts such as Peter Gottland, Melchior Lorch Hans Weigel,
remorselessly antichristian, and they took as their starting-point the visual
_ and Hans Ada m. s panmng · both of these 'generations,
' , wrth . his·
V1rgd signs of the papal Antichrist. For this reason, perhaps, they were able to go
. Sohs
prohfic literary output • was Hans Sac h s, who supplied the verses for so many further than their elders and produce works of remarkable savagery, such as
broadsheets discussed a b ove. " A t a superficial glance it might be said that The Pope as Wild Man, or Gerung's fierce allegories equating the pope with
. b
Wrtten erg supplied the doct · 1 · · · the Turk. In their own works they attest the success of visual propaganda for
hil N nna msp1ratron for evangelical propagan da,
w e uremberg supplied popular culture and carnival. As we have seen in a
the Reformation in forming a new generation of adherents. The propagandists
set in motion the process of winning support for the Gospel, but they were
wWotrtk sbuch ashthe Depiction of the Papacy, a wholly characteristic product of
. I en erg ' t e t ra d Itrons
· · 0 f popular culture and popular belief were a no less themselves part of that process.
Integra 1 part of the Saxon sch 00 1 Th - · 1 In the last half a dozen chapters we have been analysing this propaganda
truth · th b . · ere IS, however, a grain of sociologtca process. It can now be summed up in its totality as follows: At the begmnmg
10 0
th h e ser:atwn. Nuremberg artists stood closer to the common man
an t e court artists of the c h h there was an attempt to identify Luther as a holy man, and his cause as a holy
and - ranac sc oo], with its factory-like production
pnnce 1y commissions 23 Th N cause. In particular, he was to be identified with the furtherance of true
_ · e uremberg artists lived closer to the bread·
li ne, an d more mdepende tl 0 f 1h . Christianity, and his opponents with its antithesis. To delineate more clearly
aware . . n Y e city magistrates. They were more sociallY the choice between the new beliefs and the old, there was an attempt to con-
, more me1med to fallow the. . .
evangelical orthodox . The If own mchnati.ons, less susceptible to any struct a new language and new symbols of attachment to evangelical ideals.
least under the _tYI y often operated agamst the disapproval, or at These were not created ex vacuo, but through adapting language and emotive
en 1ca scrutmy of the · 1
in trouble -th h . . ' magiStrates. Many found themse ves signs deeply embedded in the culture and belief of those brought up m the
WI t e authonttes because 0 f . d.
some cases most not bl . over-vigorous propaganda, an tn old faith. Some of these were derived from the movement's very source of
could beco~e I a y with Pencz and the brothers Behem, such dissent inspiration, Scripture itself. Others were part of a penumbra of popular ideas
a most revolutwnary >4 F h
have been an expre - f h · or t ese men, propaganda seems to about which the advocates of religious revival themselves had very ambrvalent
sswn ° t eir desire to convert others to their own kind of

.-.tn:a
 242 The rhetoric of the image The rhetoric of the image 243

fcehlings, deeply rooted popular beliefs and apprehensions aroused by the is incorporated into the struggles of the evangelical movement, by claiming
esc atologtcal
. mood of the a ge. Th.Is ambtvalence
. was in part resolved bv that the solution to social oppression is theological, that it occurs on a meta-
a t temptmg to educate thci r supporters
· · the characteristic doctrines of the'
m physical plane (see ills. 22, 93).
movement ' and by attempting t o Impart
· a sense of institutional solidarity This Here, propaganda is involved in the creation or perpetuation of myth,
stage of the process is akin t o th e routtmsatwn
. . . of charisma identifying. the most noticeable in the attempt to assimilate the struggle against the old belief
30
movement
If as a Ch
. urc h 'wtt
· h Its
· . own traditJOns,
. . '
leaders and heritage to the myth of the Antichrist and its eschatological 1hemes. More remark-
we can regard this as an ad equa t e d escription of the development
· of ably, it creates new myths, sacred narratives about origins and transfor-
H 1dar propaganda
popu . for the Refor rna t"IOn, h ow are we to assess it as a process? mations.31 This is evident in the accounts given in various works about the
origins of the papacy or the monks (see ills. 63-5), or in the exposure of the
weowco oes
ld 1t work, and
t . how doe s 1·1 exerctse
· tts· effect? ,fo explore this further
.
u s art With the papacy as diabolical. This myth-making process is also contained in, indeed, as
described th . most ' l b serva hl e f eature of the works we have
· • · c presentatwn of a simp! e bl ac k -an d -white . contrast between the we have argued above, it is structurally linked to, the accounts of the origins
opposing Th.
vrews. rs depends on r d . h of the Reformation itself. The Triumph of Truth (see ill. 46), or the various
Reformation t b f . e ucmg t e complex issues involved in the works linking Luther and Hus have this character. M in myth, the historical
o anum er o discrete and .1 .d .f.
process of simpl"fi t. b . . eas! Y 1 entt table symbols. This is a status of the narrative is less important than its symbolic truth, seen in the
1 Ica ton, ut It 1s also · ·
abstract theoloo;cal . . a process of re1fication, embodying depiction of Luther kindling the fire of faith before the pope and his car-
tr rssues m concrete for 21 I ·
between the old and b . . m. n particular, the contrast dinals (see ill. 14). 32 Propaganda as myth is thus a form of symbolic com-
new c 1tef ts embodied .
tween Luther and th m persons, in the contrast be· munication - it creates a structure of meanings in which individuals can
preacher and the m ek pope, between Christ and the pope, between the relate to one another and through which they seem to realise their ultimate
on or pnest betwe t k. d
munities The use of . ' en wo m s of worshipping com· purpose. As we have shown in the realms both of popular culture and of
· · vrsua 1 symbols enc d .
diabolical nature of th . ourages an assists this process. The popular belief, this structure of meanings is created by taking over the experi-
concrctised in visual de ~a~acy' It~ metaphysical status as the Antichrist are ence of the past and supplying it with a new context. This both integrates
epictwn as IS the di . I .
evangelical movement Th .'fi . vme Y sanctiOned character of the the past with the present and provides an overarching explanation of present
· e rer 1catton thus b h ..
both that which is a d occurs at ot poles of opmwn; events. 33 This explanation is total, both because of its all-embracing scope
pprove and that wh· h . d"
terms of visual stereot Th IC IS lsapproved are presented in
. ypes. ese stereoty · h and because it claims universal validity.
demomsation of the pes are structurally hnked. T e How is this new structure of meaning created? We have argued that evan-
. opponents of evangel" I b I. f. . .
sanctification of its ad Ica e 1e IS accompamed by the gelical propaganda depends on codes drawn from common experience. Using
vocates 28 Thus fo d
of the true and the false Ch · h . ' r propagan a purposes, the images these codes, it takes over existing signs hut shows different ways of decoding
the Reformation are · · udrc are mseparable. If Luther and the patrons of
mveste with cha · . them. In the process, however, these signs come to have quite different
supporters are supplied w·th . mmattc authority, the pope and his meanings. There are two important transformations or shifts of coding in the
1 antl-chansma Th. . . .
f ound, as we have seen . h · IS structural relatiOnship IS signs used by evangelical propaganda. One is the transformation of connotation
construction of individual works~
. m c apter 3 in the . .
b ut It also runs as a L e1tmot1v . . ·'
througho t th . 1 into denotation, that is, the secondary or implied significations of a term
34
propaganda. It explains wh th . u e enttre body of evangelica become its primary significations, and describe it exhaustively. For example,
by the image of Luth ~h e Image of the Antichrist-pope is accompanied monks no longer denote a class of religious persons, who may have con-
er, e samt and pro h t h
exemplary Christian. the . P e , or, more precisely, t e notations of irreligious or immoral life, as in The Abbot on the Ice (see ill.
. one was Incomplete "th
Th e structural character f WI out the other. 26). They are now essentially an irreligious group, indeed, in 7he Origins of
qualities, namely that it . _do plropaganda points also to one of its primary
.d ' the Monks (see ill. 63) an anti-religious group.
Vl es an explanation of th
IS I eo ogical in
. na t ure. BY th1s . .
IS meant that it pro· A second kind of transformation is that from simple signification to a
. e war 1d and Its c d. . 29
ways. Erther a particula . . on Itlon. This occurs in two second-order system of signs, to metalanguage. This means that the signs of
r Issue or situation is h 35
cance, or a mundane matte . h s own to have universal signifi· one system are used as the signifiers in another. Thus the signs involved in
. . r Is s own to be 0 f t .
1s exemplified in the st gl . ranscendent 1mport. The first the image of Luther as holy man are assumed as signifiers in the system which
t t I rug e agamst the I t . h
o a struggle against th An . . n enm' s own to be part of the presents the opposition of true and false belief. To read the message of a
e llchnst The se d .
e
b t ween Luther and th . • con Is seen in the confrontations woodcut like ill. !67, where Luther indicates the Lutheran sacraments and
e ecc 1estastical hi h (
are shown to have eschatological . .fi erarc y see ill. 20 or ill. 22), which the fate of the papacy, one must assume a number of sign systems, all
Sign! !Cance · At a no th er Ievel, social grievance

'
I'
t
 The rhetoric of the image 245
244 The rhetoric of the image

supplying signifiers for this particular assembly of signs. Both of these trans- the common man was by this means to be won to the Gospel. We might use-
formations involve a process of adaptation. In the first, more elaborate codes
fully consider several models of how this might have occurred. Perhaps the
model most entertained by historians, whether explicitly or implicitly, has
are narrowed by restricting the range of signification; in the second, a simple
36 been that of the individual conversion, a qualitatively different awareness of
code has become more complex by acquiring a new plane of expression. 43
religious experience found to be personally liberating This model we might
The process of adaptation was by no means a simple procedure, however,
label 'the tower experience', after Luther's description of his own conversion
because of the multivocality of many of the symbols used in visual propa-
or discovery of Pauline justification. There are certainly numerous testi-
ganda. A visual sign could be invested with several simultaneous meanings, so
monies from the Reformation period that this was common enough among
that there was always a possibility of an ambiguous reading of its message."
those inspired by revived evangelical fervour. Whether we can assume that it
We have seen numerous examples where this was the case. Although some
was the most common way in which support was won for the evangelical
possible meanings were automatically excluded by the new codes established
movement among the broad masses cannot be considered here in any detail.
in visual propaganda, there still remained a wide area in which a message
Considered from the viewpoint of popular propaganda, it does not seem to be
could be decoded in ways other than those intended by the propagandists. To
the kind of experience evoked or stimulated by the works under discussion.
thiS extent vtsual propaganda alone was ill-suited to establish any new ortho·
Rather, they often presuppose some kind of conversion to have already
doxy, or to convey doctrines. The ambiguity inherent in the visual image occurred or seek to make the reader more susceptible to such an experience.
could, _of course, be resolved by the use of image plus text, with the latter This seems to be how Luther underStood the role of visual representation. It
supplymg an unambiguous reading. The text can be seen as fulfilling two
served as a reminder of the content of Scripture, and to facilitate its exposition
functio~s, anchorage and relay .38 In anchorage, the linguistic text directs the
to the common man but the real work of conversion, in Luther's view, was
~eader lfl how to read the visual image, steering him towards the message 44
carried out by preaching, reading and reading aloud the Bible.
mtended by the propagandist. In relay, linguistic text and visual image stand
If we can state categorically that popular propaganda itself does not pro-
m a complementary relationship, both forming an integral part of the overall
voke any 'tower experience', we must nonetheless consider the kinds of
assembly· The words are fragments of the total message which is realised at
susceptibility it might arouse in readerS which might lead in this direction. An
the level of the 'story' told by the particular work. An ~xample of this kind
observable feature of propaganda is that it simultaneously creates and eases
0 f comb"matlon . can be seen on the various sheets of the Depiction of the
tensions.45 It creates them by its function of evoking polarised stereotypes
Papacy.
and by channelling fears and apprehensions against distinct persons and
All of this adds up to the creation of a 'rhetoric of the image', a structured
objects. It eases them by identifying the causes of apprehension and providing
system for conveymg the intended meaning of visual propaganda. 39 The tech-
a comprehensive ideological explanation and solution. This is best exemplified
mcahlles of the semiological process are less important than the cultural
through the myth of the Antichrist, where the anxiety associated with this
phenomenon
. involved · The c rea 1ors o f evangelical . propaganda functionmg . as
figure was alleviated by locating it in the papacy. At the same time the struggle
med1ators of the new id eas, d raw on d"f '
t ferent kinds of shared cultural expen· ·
against the Antichrist became the more intense by being directed largely
ence described . in some d ·1 · h h
e 1a1 m l e c apters above. They take for granted as against the papacy, and this in turn intensified the antipapal struggle ... A
part of thiS experience a number of lexicons of visual signs from which they i
similar phenomenon can be seen in Lutheran attitudes towards the Devil ·-
construct.b d .their means of per suaSion. · 40 It IS ·
this rhetorical power whiCh· ·
IS the area of demonic activity is narrowed and made more personalised, but .for
d, escn
h e m Luther's
. p · f h . .
rats.e 0 t e use of Images m anti.papal polemtc, that .
all that is the more intense.47 Psychologically this is close to the convers10n
t et common
th th man IS now sob roa dl Y m . f armed and advanced in understandmg .
experience, with its easing of spiritual tensions but intensification of commit-
a e c_1ergy are worthless, as has been shown all too well in numerous ment, at the same time liberating and exacting. Here, popular propaganda
songs,
th ghsaymgs and sat"ues w h.lch one dep1cts . on all kinds of sheets and even could be seen as preparing its readers for the experience of con~ersion, ?:o-
rou monks and priests · o n P aymg cards, that one is nauseous' whenever
I . ,
viding the shock of revelation about the old religion, and arousmg hos!lhly
On e sees or hears a cleric' 41 H . . . f t
instruction • b 11 f . e was no less enthusiastic about Its power o towards it in the subsequent disillusionment of the disenchanted believer.
_ • a ave a or the sake of children and the simple folk who are This provides a second model, closely linked to the quest1on of 1mages,
I
rna re easi1y moved by ict . ,
through d p ures and images to recall divine history than and which might be labelled the 'exorcism' model. Exorcism operales by
mere war s or doctrines•.42
The aim of popula d ,
identifying and naming the demonic powers in possession of a person or ,,
must now .d hr propagan a was to instruct the common man,' and we object, challenging them to manifest themselves, and bidding them to depart,
consi er t e last an d most Important . ,
theme in this chapter, hoW
246 The rhetoric of the image Tire me to ric of the imJlge 247

all through more or less established ritual formulae 48 The same kind of pro· Wondrous Prophecy of the Papacy is the best evidence of this kind of
cess . was involved in iconoclasm and the desacralisation of images. The appeal.
n_ummous or magical power inherent in images was named and dispelled, A fifth model is that of 'cultural assimilation', where the propaganda seeks
either by breaking the image or by profaning it, the process labelled in an to aligo the Reformation with a particular kind of cultural allegiance, and so
ear her chapter 'ritual desacralisation'. This depended both on fear of the to trigger off a deeply rooted cultural response. 54 The pnme example of this
image and on release from this fear. Thereafter the image was exorcised, a tendency is the appeal to the 'common man', identifying the common man
matter of indifference. This is attested to by Luther, who spoke of the fear with the evangelical Christian, most specifically in the shape of the evangelical
struck in his heart by the image of Christ as an angry judge, but for whom peasant. 55 Here, a noticeable change occurs in the cultural appeal of evan-
~mage~ we:e subs~quently religiously neutral. 49 For Luther such images were
gelical propaganda, as it changes its stress on the role of the evangelical
_exorcised by hts own conversion experience, but he perceived that for peasant to one on the role of the evangelical burgher, seen clearly in the social
~conoclasts the exorcism was achieved in and through their attack on the
characterisation of the believing community in several works by the Cranachs
tmages, something he regarded as no less superstitious. 50 In the same way~
(see ills. 165, 167). 56 More generally, propaganda use of the notion of com·
however' the papacy and the old belief were exorcised in and through popula1 munity itself demonstrates the nature of cultural assimilation. The classic
propaganda, through means described in the chapters above. The exorcism, argument of Bernd Moeller explained the appeal of the Reformation in the
however' was closer to that of the iconoclasts than to that of Luther for it German imperial cities along such lines'' By emphasising the mutual depen·
led not to _indifference, but to aversion and disgust. st ' dence of all members of the community on one another for salvation, and the
The third model follows from this, that of 'negative assimilation' to the notion of the Church as embodied par excellence in the civic community, the
new movement ·52 I n th"IS rna d el, the common man 1s · convmced
· Reformation found an affmity with a whole outlook and way of life with
. of the
nghtness of the evangel 1"cal cause b y Its· oppositiOn
.. .. which it could be shown to be more in harmony than the old religion. This
to and exposure of rehgwus
abuses. This is the effect of the anticlerical and antipapal thrust of so much emphasis is also found on a broader front in the propaganda we have examined.
of the popular propaganda, which we examined in some detail in chapter The concept of the Church as largely the clergy and the ecclesiastical hier·
3 · _The papacy and the papal clergy are exposed as the opponents of true archy is rejected as false. Instead, an appeal is made to the experience of
community, the basic functional uni: of sixteenth-century society. This was
rehgwn, but they also oppose Luther, Luther's cause and the evangelical
· to be drawn was unavoidable - all who care about perhaps the experience with the deepest cultural resonances for men of the
movement .. · The conclu swn
true rehgmn. must suppor t the new movement. Nonetheless this still evoked a age, and it was here that propaganda directed its most potent appeal. In place
more of the papal Church, the Church of the clergy, it set the image of the small
. negattve
. . kind 0 f a 11 eg1ance.
· .
It rehed on exploiting' pre-Reformauon .
anile 1encahsm with its el believing community, an actively devout body gathered around its prea~he~.
. t' . . • ements o soc1al grievance and popu 1ar scepticism of
f ·
The last model for consideration can be called 'incitement to actiOn ·
ms 1tut1onahsed
. . . religi on. Th ere IS
· constderable
. • this kind 0f
evidence that
negative assimilation · . According to Jacques Ellul, this is the major aim of all propaganda- not just
was mvo 1ved m much of the popular appeal of the new to change opinions, but to move people to action. 58 It can even be suggested
movement.
that it was, in many cases, incitement to action which preceded change of
A fourth model .
could be 13 b e 11 e d •·Ideological
· assimilation' 53 In this mode'I opinion. 59 Once committed through action to some positive stance, the way
propaganda cla1ms allegi f . ·
ence it .d . ance rom Its readers through the ideological coher· is open to wider assimilation of the views propounded by the propaganda.
prov1 es. E1ther 11 sho th d" I
purpose and . . ws at lsparate events or issues have universa Incitement to action occurs in popular propaganda in numerous ways,_ bo~h
movement o~elamntg, which can be discovered only through the evangelical direct and indirect. Most directly, there is the depiction of positive actt~n m
movement • ande .se 1 seeks to sho w th a1 umversal · events are embodied 10· the
support of the Gospel, whether in the figure of the evangelical peasant Wield·
I1s cause As exa 1 0 f ·I
gr ievance 1·s sh own as hav·. · ·
mp e the first is the way in which socJa ing his flail against its opponents (see ill. 76), or that of the common man
by recourse to th G mg spmtual roots and that it can only be alleviated rebuking the clergy (see ill. 30), or even in the advocacy of an antJclencal
war. More indirectly, it incites tu imitation in the demeanment and h_u~ih­
e ospel ThiS IS e t" II C
man Ass (see ill. ) Th. ssen Ia Y the message of The Poor om·
93
gelical movement as p.art ~f ~~ceo~d ~s- seen in the _identification of the evv:· ation of the clergy and the papacy. The link between propaganda and mclte-
christ. In particula . . eciSlve and cosmrc struggle against the Anti· ment to action was held by civic authorities to be self~vrdent, and they
. r, m Its exploitat"100 f h d 60
upSJde-down it sought . o t e theme of the world turne regarded 'scandalous pictures' as a cause of disturbance.
. • 1o concentrate i th t
log1cal feeling and hil" n e movement the stream of escha o· It would be misleading, of course, to speak as though propaganda con· i
c 1asm of the Ia ter middle · ages. Osiander's use of the i
~;
I

l
248 The rhetoric of the imtlge The rhetoric of the image 249

centrated only on winning new recrui . example, the image of Luther the German prophet created a tradition of
fervour and susta ·n m ts to Its cause. It served also to arouse 'Luther myth' which extended into the nineteenth century, but this tradition
1 ora 1e among the d
the enemy. These mod I h converte ' and to undermine that of was no more than a refurbished, Protestant version of the traditional saint's
e s, owever are no Ie 1· 1
could be exemplified in the Refor ' . ss app leah e to such uses, and life. 6l An example of the orientation towards the present was the propaganda
which was less a matter of t bl"sh~l!on propaganda of the 1540s onwards, emphasis on eschatology and the verkehrte Welt, which gave it immediacy
es a 1 10g an evan ,. I
consolidating it Mo . ge 1ca movement, and more of an~ relevance at a time of social and spiritual crisis. Yet it was an emphasis
· re unportantly we b . .
ideal types and that ' must ear 10 mmd that they are only which could not be sustained without running the risk of trivialising the
' 0ne or several may h b .
The most significant wa ,. . ave een mvolved in any single case. theme and of distracting from the task of dealing with the mundane demands
s mcttement to a r100 • f
out some positive act - . c • or a change of opinion with· of less elevated problems. Perhaps the absence of good pedagogic propaganda
10 n accompany 10 g it f d .
the Reformation in any f . was o ubwus value in furtherin! JS not unconnected with this feature: Reformation propaganda was too pre-
. . 1
o 1 s stages.
occupied with proclaiming the end of the world to show men how to live
ThlS ralses the question of effec .
most reliable test of thi . b l!veness. As we stated at the outset, the pious lives within it.
· 1
10!0 practice the less s lS o e found 10 b eh avwur, · · how far people put
10 Another way to view the question would perhaps be to consider that
ons 1earned from th ·
study of this subj'ect wo ld . e1r propaganda reading. A propes popular propaganda was too much a product of popular mentalities to be
e propaganda examined uh reqmre use of a Wl·d er range of sources outside able to transcend them. Relevant here is the criticism of Lutheranism made
th
by Gerald Strauss on th erf~· It would be similar in kind, perhaps, to that by more radical varieties of Reformation, which saw it making too many
•.m doctrmating
. the you e , 61 e >ectlveness of L u th eran e d ucatwnal . .
tdeals ·
m compromises with the old, 'superstitious' religion. Significantly, there is little
·
.1m1ted ng
indications of eff . · Internal t 0
propaganda, we can find some of the popular propaganda surveyed here that came from the Zwinglian or
I
PIex matter and by 1
ec~n=
· Th ese sh ow that effectiveness is a com· radical traditions. Clearly, this was because of the hostility of these traditions
. • no means a simp! .
aud1ence. We can see th. . e questwn of a one-way working on an to images, compared with the qualified acceptance of them in the Lutheran
1
lS cearly 1fwe d'18 t' . ,
o f effectiveness charact . d mgmsh between three 'moments tradition. This alone probably ensured that the visual propaganda of the first
' ense by th . .
present and the future eu onentation towards the past, the half-century of the Reformation would be overwhelmingly Lutheran. The
First, we have seen. that R f . Zwinglian-radical critique of Lutheran compromises with superstition was an
exploiting the heritage of t:e ormatwn propaganda was highly successful in accurate enough assessment, for Lutheranism did make a qualified acceptance
from popular culture and past, 10 us10g numerous traditional imager of popular culture, with all of its visual elements, which in turn put a charac-
·
onente d' m 1
. catching the popu ar .belief · Se con d , tt
· was remarkably 'present· teristic stamp on its popular propaganda. It is this stamping of Lutheran
th e common opinion about mood of. 1ts t'Irne · 1n many areas, it echoed shrewdlY propaganda with popular culture that makes it such a good source for the
· lism, lay desires to c tsoc13l grie
cl enca , vance, concern with injustice, anti·. study of popular mentalities. This leads us to even broader questions about
1
more spiritual, less sacerd °nl Chro one s own salvation and the dell\and for a the success or failure of the Reformation itself. As Gerald Strauss has pointed
0 1a
sharpemng · perceptions and . . urch. . · H ere 11
· was effective in focussing and out, the Reformation, despite its undoubted achievements, failed signally to
also from outside the p 10 mcltmg to action. We have found this attested
63
create a new kind of devout Christian among the popular masses. One could
· ropaganda b h . not argue that this failure was the failure of its popular propaganda; rather
unagery was matched by hi . Y t ose occaSions on which propaganda
creating not only single ima stor~cal events. Third, it built for the future by the popular propaganda is symptomatic of the wider failure. Thus, questions
cultural heritage of later g ges, . ut also a visual vernacular which became the about the effectiveness of popular propaganda along these lines lead to wider
achi evement, typified by eneratwns
th . · Th'" was both a positive and a negatlve
.
questions about the nature of the Reformation itself.
theAs Ant'lchr'lSI-pope. e !mages of Luther the German prophet and of Finally, we hope that this study has established the value to the historian
far as we can tell f of visual evidence. There are many other studies to be pursued in the field:
ganda d'd1 not measure upromto itthe prese. n t s t u d Y, Reformation popular propa· Reformation popular propaganda in France and the Netherlands, that of the
was constrained by this triangls o~n tdeals of effectiveness. Its total innpact Counter-Reformation, the depiction of social conflict in visual evidence, what
~e": symbols of allegiance whiche o forces. It did not produce the powerful VIsual evidence can tell us about early modern rural and urban culture to
!Stmctly different from that f ";:ght have created a new 'symbolic universe' name but a few. We may conclude with a reflection on the appropriateness
~~~combination of the threeom:~e old faith. Its 'symbolic universe', rather, of the methodology used in this book to investigate visual propaganda. As we
uture-onented, creative im I nts of past, present and future, in which hope to have shown, the sixteenth century was highly sensitised to signs,
pu ses were 1·lmlted · by the other two. For
250 The rhetoric of the image
systems of signs and the many ways of reading them. Well before modern
hngmsts mven~ed the d~scipline, they were practising a basic semiology. The
reasons for th!S were giVen by Luther himself, who realised that the visual
~age ~as one of the most powerful means of communication of his day.lt is
Impossible, he wrote, for men not to make images of things, and it is there-
fore a human tendency to conceive of all things in signs for 'without images
we can neither think nor understand anything'. 64 Here he called attention to
a first prmc1ple of the study of popular mentalities; in this book we have but
followed h1s sound advice.
9
POSTSCRIPT
There is often a moment in academic research when a lcrritory that seems
to have lain dry and unwatered for many years suddenly receives a down-
pour of lifchringing rain and blossoms into new life. The general field of
this book, the image as historical evidence, is a good case in point. Few
historians were interested in images in the 1970s and the soil was thought
to be rather arid, yielding few returns of significance for any who chose to
till it. During the 1980s, however, interest in the historical image flour·
ished as never before as historians began to appreciate the value of images
as historical sources, not least medievalists seeking to fill out a corpus of
evidence that was often disconcertingly thin. 1 The lead has been taken by
social and cultural historians, and they have been joined more recently by
historians of daily life and material culture, political historians, legal histo·
rians, historians of ideology, religion, literature and folklore, and historical
anthropologists. Indeed, there is scarcely a field of history today that does
not count the word 'iconography' among its working vocabulary and
which does not include the visual image in its array of evidence. As with
all types of historical source, images arc not tools to be wielded in any
casual manner, since they demand considerable acquired skill if one is not
to make a botched job with them. It might be simple enough if this were
only a matter of the historian acquiring the skills of the art historian and
learning to analyse images according to the canons of that discipline.
However, the task has now become immeasurably more complex for both
disciplines and it is also imperative for art historians both to operate with
the kinds of evidence to which the trained historian brings a skilled eye for
henncnutic possibilities and to avoid accepting simplistic understandings
0 !- historical events or processes. But even if the art historian turns ~o the
10
discipline of historical context and begins to probe local knowledge the
mode of the historical ethnographer, even if the historian attempts to
attune his or her visual perception to the level of sophistication of t~e art
historian, the task of unravelling images as historical evidence is_ sttll far
from easy. Such an apparently simple problem as whether Sixteenth-
century depictions of festive peasants represent social realism or morahsmg
satire can involve the interpreter in complex issues of social mores, popu·
lar culture. local and family history, history of sexuality, literary genre and
theology.'
Despite the familiarity of the tenn iconography, 'reading images' is no
251
 252 PostscripT Postscript 253
'
;J easy matter, and it is only by dint of attention to minute detail of visual this broadsheet attacks Luther and his followers as drunkards of extraor·
representation and by exhaustive exploration of the possibilities of histori- dinary capacity, able to empty such a glass with a single gulp. Yet this
cal, social, political and cultural context that we can be sure that impor- explanation does not quite fit the details of our broadsheet, either the
tant allusions have not gone unheeded. It is not surprising that even the visual references or those provided in the accompanying text (omitted for
most conscientious analyst can fail to make connections that illuminate the reasons of space). First, it would be strange to depict Luther, when the
context of an image. Thus, the final pair of images in Cranach's Passional expulsions of 1620 concerned Calvinists. Admittedly, the figures included
Christi und Antichristi (ills. 125-6) acquires an extra dimension if the in Luther's wheelbarrow involve the leaders of both the Lutheran and the
viewer realises that they allude to a very popular event in the annual litur- Reformed wings of Protestantism (~elanchthon, Zwmgli, Oecolampadius
gical cycle, the raising on Ascension Thursday of a figure of Christ and Calvin), hut the words put in Luther's mouth in the accompanying
through a hole in the church roof, symbolising his ascent into heaven. text clearly allude to the hostility bct\veen Lutheranism and Calvinism as
After Christ had 'ascended' in this way, a puppet of the devil, accompa- competing, rather than fraternal forms of Protestantism. Second, the mug
nied by pieces of burning paper or pitch to signify hell-fire, was thrown held by Luther has httle resemblance to the Jubelg/as in the 1616 broad-
down from the hole to depict Satan's tina! defeat and consignment to hell. sheet - the former has onlv two rings and is round and squat (rather like
Cranach's antithesis thus invoked a popular and much-loved liturgical Luther's ftgurc), the latter is tall and straight-sided, with three rings. ~·he
event, just as his image of Christ on the ass (ill. 121) alluded to the 'Palm- tex:t of our broadsheet also does nor use the term Ju.helglas, hut calls It a
ass', a figure pulled through the streets in procession on Palm Sunday and 'wine-glass', which would accord with the knobbed protrusions on its sur-
which was accorded special veneration.l face. quite unlike the smooth surface of the Juhelglas. Finally and conclu-
Cranach himself seems t{) have heen very aware of the importance of sively, there is no reference to Bohemia in the accompanymg text,_ which
such pious-liturgical allusions. In the second edition of the Pas.\·ional speaks of Luther and hcs misled followers bemg expelled from Styna, and
Christi und Antichristi he strengthened the contrast in the sixth pair of lpper and Lower Austria: this seems to refer to the expulsion of Lutheran
woodcuts (ills. 117- 18) by replacing the depiction of Christ going barefoot preachers from these regions by Archduke Karl in the 1580s-'
with one of Christ carrying his cross. This made more sense of the refer- It has been said that the effectiveness of a good cartoon depends on
ence in the accompanying text to Matthew 16.24 (the need to follow accurate rccognlllon.. of f unctwns . .·
asstgne d t (1 certa<·n depicted objects . . by
Christ in carrying the cross) while providing a stronger visual contrast: the h . . .
t e artist, and thts poses specta 1 pro ems or bl . 1- the '"<>uld·be
"' histoncal mter-
pope is carried in comfort, while Christ must carry his cross in agony. . . .
preter. The act of recogmtwn LS somet mg arge Y h. 1 1 . taken for
. granted
. by .an
However, it also introduced a further visual element which would have . , . .
artists contemporanes; mt1ee . t c WI o d h ·t f th" .. cartoomst .· often conststs .
been familiar from every Passion Play performed in a German town. merely in the juxtaposition of two easily recognisable tmage_s, each wtth
Moreover, making the Stations of the Cross was a common expression of thetr. own resonances to create an e1.1.ect m · w·h·K·h the whole <S more than
lay piety at the end of the lifteenth century through which devout · .
the sum of the parts. The h1stonan. owe\er, . h . mus·t acquire more than . . just
Christians could share emotionally in Christ's suffering as he carried his , . . ~ . . th a broad apprecmtion of
the penod eve lor hts or her subJeCt, more an .
4
cross to Calvary. Cranach's replacement woodcut would therefore have . -
the vtsual culture of other ages. 6 AttentiOn to me
· fi detail is often tmportant
summo~ed up a wave of recognition whose impact can easily be missed by . . . . . • · t whar mav have been
If a late twcntJeth-centurv viewer !S ro apprccta e "'
a twentieth-century observer. . . . ~ h, . 1c of lJie Sf\·en-headed
glarmgly obYJOus m the s1xtcenth. Take t c examp . . ..
The question of recognition can easily become entwined with that fun- Luther (ill. 184): the hand around the nee o t e ce k f h ntral head <S a pncst s

damental concern of the historian and art historian alike. accurate dating. . . d therefore a further
stole, crossed in the appropriate hturgJCa 1 manner, an . .
It has been suggested that the depiction of Luther as wmesaek (ill. 187) is .. . h. ·'t"on as a pnest. mdced
satmcal allusion to Luthcr"s betrayal o1 IS P051 1 k f
mJsdat~d, ~nd that it alludes to the expulsion of Protestant preachers from made doubly biting by its normal tunctJOn
. . f ·mbolising the vo e o
° S) · . . -
Bohemia m 1620 following the defeat of the anti-Habsburg revolt of . h • kll d m ecclesJasucal dress
Chnst. This may be easv enough for t osc s 1 e . .
1618-20. The giant mug would then be a reference to a Catholic satirical . • .. obscure and some vtsua 1
codes. but other frames of recogmtJon are more · ("/ ..
broadsheet of 1616, which depicted a gigantic festive beer-mug (Jubeig/as) . .d "f. In the woodcut 111St
elements may prove more difficult to 1 enti Y· . .
diVIded by honzontal bands into four levels, labelled The Ten Appears to the Monks (ill. 31 ). two of the monks deplete~ :~l~ :~~t
1
~d f~
0
Commandments', 'The Creed' 'The Lord's Prayer' and 'The Catechism' to appear to be wooden rods which end. in a carving of a clenc e
represent the elements of L th •, h. · f been able to ' ent< )
u er s teac mgs. The accompanymg text o ing a nail. No commentator on this woo d cu t has·
 254 Postscript Postscript 155

what these rods are or what they signify. They do not form part of the grown into one creature with the monk whom he uses as his instrument',
urma Christi, the instruments of Christ's Passion, which sometimes but it does not change signiticantly the main message that the monk is
includes disembodied hands (throwing dice or washing in a bowl). They merely a means of playing the devil's tune. 11 On the other hand, an impor-
may allude to the closed fist as a form of apotropaic magic, hut there is tant dimension is certainly missed when the broadsheet The Seven-headed
no other means of linking them to protective magic. That this motif Papal Beast (ill. 75) is not perceived as a parody on 'the Mass of St
ap~ars twice in the picture might indicate that it is of some importance, Gregory'. The St Gregory legend was of central importance for the doc-
yet It cannot be precisely identified. trine of the Real Presence of Christ in the elements of the Eucharist. It
In cases of this kind a dubious attempt at identification may be more told how Pope Gregory the Great, while celebrating Mass, had doubted
misleading than saying nothing about the depicted object, and over-zealous the Real Presence of Christ in the eucharistic elements, but just at the
interpretation may indeed lead to many false concl~sions. For example, point of consecration he experienced a vision of the living Christ on the
the third head from the left of the seven-headed Luther may be intended. altar. The depiction was one of the most common devotional images of
as has ~cen suggested, to represent Luther as Junker George. The hat may the later middle ages and often had added to it a representation of the
be a scJssor~d nobleman's hat and the object above his head may be a
11
instruments of Christ's Passion, a recurrent theme in pious meditation.
baton, alludmg to the staff borne by the Marshall of the Empire. the The Seven-headed Papal Beast is thus a powerful attack on belief in the
Elector of Saxony. It may also be possible to connect this with the design Real Presence. Its importance is heightened if one realises that it ~'as cre-
on t_he figure's belt, to interpret the motifs as roses signifying the 'golden ated as a reply to Cochlaeus' Seven-headed Luther, a tract, wh1ch_ was
rose· consecrated by Leo X and sent to Frederick the Wise in 1519 in an devoted to attacking Luther's views on the sacrament of the Euchanst. It
attcmp~ to block a Habsburg succession to the Empire. Thus, this part of reverses the charge levelled by Cochlaeus that Luther is the beast of the
the sa!Jre. has· been sadI t o a 11 u d e to Luther assuming the persona of a Apocalypse: not Luther, hut the Catholic hierarchy and their blasphemous
godlv pnnce 7 Yet th1·s stret ·h · · ·
~. · · c es mterpretat10n too far. The design on t he Sacrament are to be identified as the beast. u
bel~ IS not obviously a rose, nor the headgear obviously that of a prince, .. ·
These examples reveal effectively that an ·.tconograp her.'s work is . never
. Luther depicted as J un k er G eorge IS
whde · alwavs shown as a hare-hca dcd . . - · 1 . ·
done, and underlme the importance o 1 a ttre ess mvc" 1 •<t .gatton of htstoncal
. .
kmght ' never as· a prince · M
· oreover, no charge- was ever brought agatnst
. · . .
context, art htstoncal ·
genre and socw-cu 1tura 1 h a b.t
I u.s in estabhshmg
. · the
Luther
. by his opponents th·a t h e soug h t to usurp the office or authority o f full re:-.onances of any single work of propaganda. Sometimes, how~ver,
a pnnce, much less that of his overlord, the Elector of Saxony. The prof- .
the h1stonan . who works w1th . a broa d ana 1Yt.1ca1 hru sh requires the a1d of
fered explanation thus ace t - h • , . . .
. oun s 1or t e baton , but at the cost of mtro- more spcc1a1tse stu 1es, w h et her o f a s1·nglc art 1··st or. published work.
d d.
ducmg some other impl"'us·bl 1 ·I . . . Thus, the small booklet on the Wondrous Prophecy uj the Papacy, pub-
the 'b· , . . . .. e e ements. Just as plausible 1s the v1ew that
. ato~ IS a bndle to curb Luther"s unruly tongue.x When the tract to .
!1shed by Andreas OSJander . . 1527 (1"ll s. 108 ~ 13) • has heen searchmgly
m .
wh1ch th1s served as title . . , . . ·11 ·
. . P<~ge was pubhshed m 1529 the Turk was very t ummated by a close studv o f 1ts · contex t an d antecedents by ..Dav1d
much m the mmd of the Ge . d . . .. - has hene,1te ~ d f"
. rman rea er. wh1ch lends some plausthdJty to Heffner. while the background rom .a fine 1 critical cdttlOil
. of
the v1ew that the hat is a tu b· ., u c . · . b It laced to deal w1th the
. . r an. n1ortunately, Cochlaeus gives no help Os1andcr's works.14 Indeed. \Ve are now 1ar e er P
m hts comments alludi r t h · . . . . h · t thanks to recent ex-
. , · ng o t e t1tlcpage, mentioning for the hcadmg entire subject of popular prophecy m c eap pnn · .
Luther merely that Luthe · .. d b· .
.
. .
r IS as e auched as h1s name 1mphes posstbl)"
. . .
P orations bv Nicolli, Talkcnhergcr and Zam e I. ~
l . h 11 - , ' The comments offered
· .
su~gestt~g th_at the hat may be that of a Landsknecht. I(J , -
on prophecy (pp. 116 47 above) can now be set m e
· th context of a growmg
d
fhe h1stonan may ther r . b : . .d ·d h menan that extende
. . . . . e ore e caught between the millstones of over- understandmg of a complex and many-st c P eno
mtcrprctat!On or m 1s1Jcntif . · ... . . · d p ophccv encompassed
. ·, · ICatwn, even of failmg to identify at all ele- from the mJddle ages well mro the modern peno · r - .
ments cructal for understand· . .. , . . , . . . . . ll . . d and emted both the
h . mg a VIsual Image. Such questiOns may seem t h o~c Vlstons of the end' whtch penod1ca )' gnppe . . .
to e matters of scholastic pcd t
b t 1f h
es e t to t e hlstonan of
·. .
.
· ·
an ry, of lJttle use to a general reader an
:
d Icarned and popular mind. as well as fears a f a l1cn
. . . . .- . d
° ,.
. h rdes triggenng >p1n-
.
I· r attitudes to astrol-
, . ll . . costume unless they are hkely to affect the tual and soctal cnscs. It mc!udcd scJcntlhc an popu a .
avera mtcrprctatJOn of an ima' Tl . . d . . . . . . . . t ntial. and playe<1 an
Protr US!On · d . ge. ms, m ill. !00, recognising the roun ogy and pol!t1cal explmtatton of 1ts mob1 1tsmg po c c.
un er the devil\ ~ . . ~ . . . f Protestant conicS-
beneath as the d .. ,. h · orcarm as a gOJtrc and perceiving the face Important role in the formatwn and mamtenancc 0 . h
· ev1 1 s clly so that th d ·1 · · k. . d. ,. el)·-ordamed prop et
head · . h. · e ev1 rests a dJscrnbod1cd mon s SJOnal identity. In the shape of Luther seen as a l\ITI .
on Its 1p makes less plausihle the interpretation that "the devil has whose prophecies were held to be relevant we II 10 °
· t the nmcteenth centurY.
·
 Postscript 257
256 Po1·rscripr

it became a form of hagiography and cxprcssJVC picty. 1 (' fhus. the brief splendid detective work (see Roettig 1991) in uncovering this item not only
reference<.:. to prophecy as expressed in the works analysed 1n this hook enables us to establish for the first time an order to a body of work which
represent no more than a few partial glimpses of a subject which still previously appeared random and unsystematic; it also provides interpreta-
tions for previou~ly ill-understood themes and allusions. which are illumi-
awaits a definitivr.: treatment.
\Vithout explorations of the wider context of a suh-themc such a~ nated by the commentary to \Vhich they served as illustrations.
prophecy it can be impossible for the historian of popular propaganda to Thus, the pairing of The Shipwreck of the Papal Church (ill 84) and The
unravel the tangled skein of allusion, cross-reference and specialist know- Shtp of Christ (ill. 85) implicitly attempted in the f~rst edition of this book
ledge that would enable a modern reader to understand thL propagandist\ and suggested by the common theme of the 'ship of faith' can be corrected
message at even the most simplistic level. Thus_ the theme of anticlerical- by knowledge of how Gcrung intended the two images to appear. The first
ism. highlighted in the discussion above of ·enemies of the Gospel'. has was a counterpart to a representation of the sounding of the third trumpe_t
recently been subjected to such intensive discussion that we arc now far in Apocalypse 8.10 11. The shipwreck of heretics and unbelievers who Sail
better placed to understand its role as an ideological resource in the on the 'waters made bitter as wormwood' certainly involves the pope, a
polemical battles of the Reformation. ;\ representation of the pope tread- cardinaL a bishop and a monk, but behind this 'ship of the Roma~ clergy'
ing on the neck of the Emperor Barbarossa, used to good propagandist another ship signifying secular rule (containing an emperor an_d pnncesses)
effect in Luther's 1545 Depiction ol the Papacy, rests on a p1ece of histori- is threatened with sinking, while a king is already submerged m the waves.
cal fiction created to serve the interests of Protestant polemic, and the full In the background. a group in safety on dry land signifies the assurance ~f
resonances and implications of the image can only he uncovered by a spe- true bclievers.IH The .\'hip oj" Christ may have been suggested by the prcvl-
. d ·
ous 1mage, but Gerung actually place 1t as t e coun e
h t·rpart to a represen-
-.
cialised study of the creation of that particular legend. 17
· · . d tb moon under her feet
None the less, some works seem to defy the hermeneutic skill of the tat1on of the woman clothed w1th the sun an c
. . 12 1 17 ·rhc confrontation
most determined interpreters of all disciplines. This was certainly the case and the seven-headed dragon of Apoca 1ypse · ·
· 1 d. th Jews) was thus
with the works of Mathias Gerung ( 1500 70), patently devoted to apoca- between true and false believers (the latter me u mg e . ·.
. · h of· the Anuchnst bv
lyptic themes and created in a propagandist spirit concerned to label the placed parallel to the war m heaven agamst t e power ~
b licvers l<J
pope as the Antichrist and as great an enemy of true Christians as the St Michael(= Christ) and the servants of the Word an d true e ·· .
. . d ·r k . Demom Enthroned m
Turk (see ills. 84-5, 150-2). A complete understanding of his often enig- Slffiilarly the location of The Pope an ur a1 ·
. ' . G . d Magog but as the two
matic woodcuts depends on a recent inspired discovery hy the art historian lle/1 (ill. 150) identifies the figures not as og an •
• ··th t n horns and seven
Petra Roettig of a manuscript in the Ravarian State Library which not bcasts of Apocalypse \3 the 'beast from t he sea V.i e · .
' , .h h ns Luther had seen m
only establishes a definitive order for Gerung's illustrations to apocalyptic heads and the 'beast from the earth w1t two or · .
. .. f h H I , Roman Emp~re and the
themes. but also identifies the work for which thcv were intended as illus, the two figures the princtpalltJCS o t e o ) h
·d ·r, d the figure of t e
trations, the Commentary to the Apou1/ypse of" St John of the Bernese papacy respectively hut Meyer's commentary t enll Je
, ' · h th T rks The two-
preacher Sebastian :vi eyer (see Roettig 1991 ). This work was originally beast from the sea' with \ltahomet and so w1t e u --
. t d in the same way as
published in Latin in 1539 as an expression of anti-papal polemic. It was horned 'beast from the earth' is, however. mterprc e
. ld b 0 th spiritual and secular
translated into German in 1544 by a Swiss cleric then working in the Luther to signify papal pretension to wte d
, I h. g in his right han an
Palatinate at the express request of the Count Palatine Otthcinrich, who power. This is indicated by the papal-demon c utc Ill . d
. · t t a cardtnal an a
had introduced an evangelical Reformation into his territories in 1542. Imperial crown as well as the headgear appropna e 0 .
.h . cardinal and a bJShop.
Gerung. employed at the Palatinate court in the 1530s and 1540s, was bIS op, which the demon proffers to a pnnce. a . .
. . 1· . interlmked nngs. pos-
commissioned to create woodcuts illustrating the translated commentary. Th e pnncc and the cardinal are umted by two argc . h.
·b · · ·f th intimate relations 1p
w~ich were then located in their intended place in the manuscript version. Si ly mtended to be marriage rings and to sJgm Y c · f
.. . . G 's intended \ocauon or
evidently as a prelude to a printed edition which was never published. between nobility and clergy.'" Establtshmg erung . lSI) also
The Pope and Turk as Demons dra!( their Followers to He/ (i. · d
1 11 .h .
Gerung _produced twenty-six pairs of woodcuts, placed side by side at
. . d .. ce it is palrC Wit a
appropnate points in the commentary, some providing oppositions as prov1des a stronger context for th1s woo cut, sm . t f
. . d h alent conSJgnmen o
sharp-edged as those in the Passional Christi und Antichristi, others relying depiCtJOn of the knight Faithful and True an t c VI c f hell
b t to the ,~res o
on more com~lex ~nd subtle theological contrasts, but always emphasising the Whore of Babylon and the seven-heade d eas . h f "thful
the apocalyptic dimension of the religious issues of the time. Roettig's (Apocalypse 19.11-21). Thus, the figure of Christ preachmg tot e ai
 Postscript 259
l
258 Po.st.script
enabled closer attention to a range of important visual themes, while exhi-
is explicitly identified with the knight Faithful and True, who 'is called the
bitions devoted largely to Luther portraits widened the range of known
Word of God' (Apocalypse 19.12), but he is also Christ as Judge con- 24
representations of the Reformer throughout the centuries. In conse-
demning the unfaithful. 21
quence of the last item, we can now point to a significant corpus
Roettig's study shows how proper understanding of such works of visual
of Luther imagery, beginning with 'Cranach's Luther' and extending to
propaganda can still depend on the act of archival discovery, and in con-
nineteenth-century representations such as those by Gustav Ktlnig,
sequence of her book Gerung's status must be substantially reassessed. He
imagery which perpetuated the 'Luther myth' in such highly potent v1sual
undoubtedly created one of the most comprehensive works of propagan-
forms that our very preconceptions of Luther and his Reformation are still
dist satire of the Reformation era, comparable in its theological complex-
shaped by them. Indeed, the theme of anniversaries inspired studies of
ity only to Cranach's Passional Christi und Antichrist/ and in its polemical
Reformation anniversaries themselves, of which the most fruitful was
vehemence to Luther's Depiction of the Papacy. At another level the work
undoubtedly that by Kastner ( 1982) and which drew extensively on visual
curiously invites comparison wilh Thomas !Viurncr's On the Great
evidence.-'-'~ The same is true of medals, although these have attracted con-
Lutheran Fool, which also suffered from a lack of wider circulation in
print. However. later ages were at least able to comprehend the program- siderably less attention than they dcserve. 26
Exhibitions none the less have their own internal logic and may not be
matic scope and structure of \1urner's satire, whereas Gerung's work has
best suited to the pursuit of specific scholarly themes, sometimes present-
until now suffered from the fragmentation of its components and the
ing their material in rather piecemeal fashion. A notable exception was the
apparent obscurity of its content.
«ploration by Dieter Koepplin (1983b) of the theme 'the reformation of
This example may act as a sobering corrective to any temptation to
images' in the 1983 Nuremberg exhibition, which traced the development
overrate the popular impact of Reformation propaganda. but it also
of images of Christ's work of salvation through the later middle ages and
emphasises the importance of careful study of the work of individual
into the Reformation. Such a ·Jongue dun':e' study was invaluable in
artists. A thematic approach such as that taken here necessarily takes min-
revealing ju~t how far Lutheran images of the crucifixion drew .up?n the
imum account of individual biographies or individual rruvres. However,
Christocentric piety of the later middle ages and reshaped II mto a
we now have some excellent studies for some of the most important fig-
Lutheran tradition which was an evolution of visual piety rather than a
ures discussed in this book - the Be hem brothers and Georg Pencz (the
radical rejection of it. Indeed, Koepplin's study suggested very cogently
so-called 'three godless painters of Nuremberg'), C rs Graf. llans Baldung
that Luther's discovery of Christ as sole saviour would be ine_xpltcable
Gricn, Niklaus Manuel Deutsch, Durer, the Ilolbeins and others. Thanks
without close knowledge of late medieval piety, especially its visual ele-
to the sp~cndid two-volume catalogue produced hy Kocpplin and Falk for
ments. The major problem of the uses of the religious image m the
the ma~s1ve Cranach exhibition of 1974 we have a scholarlv basis for a
Reformation tradition has been highlighted in many recent works, wh~t?cr
more systematic study of Cranach and his school. There have- already been
those focusing on Zwinglian use of images for propaganda, a~momtt~n
some excellent short studies of visual themes associated with the Cranach
and instruction, the continuity of the ;sacred gaze' in Lutheran pt~ty, poltt-
school, such as the 'contrast between Law and Grace', 'Christ blessing the
ical uses of the image in establishing Protestant confessional identtty or the
child_ren' (linked to Lutheran attacks on the Anabaptist vic\.,.. of infant
"'a
.,. Y· m · w h.tc h tmages
· -
camp1tcate d t he rea1 t"IOns. between the Protestant and
baptism) and t_he Christian family. We also now have a fine exploration of
27
the uses _of pnnccly portraits in the interests of confessional propaganda, the Eastern Orthodox churches.
. . . . .· . ·d ·nterest in the theme of
I) ommatmg many of these studtes ts a revtve t .
fostered m the Electoral Saxon court in the sixteenth century and drawing ·h · · table contribut10ns to
on the talents of Cranach and his followers. n c eap pnnt , and recent vears have seen many no .
. " . h t tanding quahty of
Most of these studies arc the work of a.rt historians and were occasioned our understandmg of the subject. Apart from t e ou s ..
.. W If Harms '" prov•dmg
?Y exhi~iti~ms, which have undoubtedly played a major role in stimulating th e ednwns of broadsheets undertaken by o gang ' .
. . f f th r research we have
mtcrcst Iuture historians with an invaluable tool or ur e '
· m. Images as histor1·cal
· cvt"d ence. -,-h.ts was one of the verv pos1t1VC
· · . . .. . . d themes of popular com-
results
· · of the
_ m·any· ex· h.b. ·
t tttons mounted to commemorate the Luther - quin- many mdtvidual studies explonng the fonns an
. . , · (1988) of the mvth of
centenary ~~ 1983._ which often focused attention on propagandist imagery municatwn. These range from Hsm s fine ana 1ys1s "' .
·t 1 d. t lc) over the exam•-
because
. . .of tts obv1ous
- importa nee• m · provt"d·mg VISual
· · to an other-
variety n ua murder (where illustrations play a subor ma e ro '
. t" . h , t literature' of England
na Ion of representations of women m t e stree
WISe
. hm1ted bodv~ of phy -· - 1 . · 21 · .
stcd remams. · More spec1ahsed subJects. · such .a~ . f )" ing broadsheets.
Illustrated broadsheets of the Reformation era or the Bible in German. and Germany by Wiltenberg ( 1992), to analySis o mora IS
 -----,
260 PostscripT Postscript 261

and prints by Bangerter-Schmid (1986) and Armstrong ( 1990). Here Watt This brings us to the question of desiderata in the narrower field of reli-
(1991) has supplied an exemplary study which encompasses several forms gious propaganda with which this book has been concerned. Here there
of popular communication and their interactions, whether broadsheets, are many fields to he tilled, indeed sometimes thickets to be assarted,
chapbooks, ballads or cheap images. The complexity of the task of cul- before cultivation can begin. Reformation popular propaganda in France
tural recognition has hccn shown by studies of German festive peasant life and the \"etherlands has attracted some attention, but we still await defini-
by Moxcy ( 1982, 1989) and Stewart (1986. 1993), while even work> of tive studies for either country. The visual propaganda of the Counter·
scholars interested in street literature such as carnival plays have enormous Reformation remains a gap to be tilled, although there have been some
value for the historian of the visual image. even where they do not address excellent individual studies." The links between popular propaganda,
the visual dimcnsion. 29 Indeed, the issue of the visual image is now firmly iconophohia and the radical changes in religious allegiance that marked
embedded in contemporary modes of cultural history, so that the analysis the sixteenth century as a whole makes iconoclasm a further subject
of early modern culture is unthinkable without analysis of the visual image demanding a definitive study. 37
and its resonances. -10 The wider context for all such studies must now be our more refined
This postscript is not intended, however, to be a parade of recent works awarencs~ of the 'power of the image', and how far the very question of
on images or cheap print, and something should be said of the tasks con- visual perception is central to a historical understanding of any culture, far
fronting the historian of the visual image in the vears ahead. Despite the less one such as the European sixteenth century. which experienced such
impressive volume of new material and the fir~ commitment of many dramatic changes in mentality and cultural availability. To embark on
even an outline of these themes \VOuld to be commence another book,
early modern historians to working with images, 11 we still lack many basic
works of reference that would make such work imrneasurablv easier. The rather than to draw a belated line under this one. A little over a decade
~mpressive projects of Hollstein and The Illustrated Bartscl; provide an after the fim publication of this book, it is possible to conclude this post-
script with the awareness that it has been part of a significant reorienta-
Irreplaceable starting point for new research, hut have the limitations of
tion in historical thinking. From being thought an interest marginal to the
offer~ng raw material without guidance on how to interpret it. It is a great
concerns of serious historians. we can now· firmly state that the kinds of
d_efictency that there is no lexicon for the early modern period of symbols,
visual skills and analysis it demanded are part of the historian's essential
stgns, gestures or even objects. The medieval period is well served by the
armoury. V•/c can now begin the task of creating something like the sy~·
works of K iihnel on costume and armour and by Garnier and Schmitt on
tematic study of the historical image demanded by Bringeus and Wohlfeil
gesture, but for the early modern period more attention has been devoted
to emhlems, while standard (and invaluable) works on Christian iconogra- under the heading of historische Bildkunde, and which we might render as
a historical ethnography of the image. 38 This book has made its mode~t
phy such as Reau (1956-9) or Kirschbaum (1968-76) have their own
contribution to that endeavour. It was called a 'pioneering study' when Jt
mhutlt h~mtatio~s. There is a black hole of similar proportions in the case
Erst appeared, and it is encouraging that the territory it pioneered (along·
of book Illustration, whose importance has been so tellingly illuminated by
side others) has now become densely settled and definitively claimed for
a fine study such as that by Wandel (1991).32 Geisberg's plan to publish a
comprehensive catalogue of early German book illustrations never pro- the historian's profession.
gressed bey~nd the first two volumes, and subsequent attempts to provide
comp~ehens_tve catalogues for early printed works have continued, some-
what t~exphcably, to ignore this aspectJ"
:articular image genres also demand more explicit attention, such as
epttaphs, tapestries, political iconography. the representation of prodigies
and natural events . port ra1turc,
· ·
representatiOns of social classes the poor
and the 'other' (Jews·, G ypstes,.·, non- E uropcan cultures), representatiOns
' .
of warfare : technic
. . a an sctentl tc Imagery, and even cartographv.J One o f
1 · d · ·fi · 4

the most mtngumg . them,.

cs o f cons1·d era b le Importance
. for the• htstonan
. .
~f propaganda, ~~ caricature and the grotesque, which provide a classic
example
. of
. how signs and w h·a t t h ey s1gmfy
· · may have little or no natura 1
relatmnshtp other than that created by the fertile mind of an artistY'
i

I
l